Hand-outs replace handwritten instructions
Nurses are short of time. Therefore, Laurel Spooner, RN, BSN, education coordinator at Mid-Florida Medical Services in Winter Haven, looks for ways to simplify patient education. She found one in the neurology department.
A nurse had previously written each physician's discharge instructions in a booklet kept on the ward. When the patient was discharged, the nurse going over the discharge instructions would write the dos and don'ts on the sheet.
"I took the book and printed each set of instructions on a nice handout with the hospital's logo. Now all the nurses have to do is document that they gave the patient the handout," says Spooner.
To make the information easy for the patient to understand, she puts it in categories such as dos and don'ts for diet, medications, activities, and signs and symptoms.
For more information on creating handouts to replace handwritten instructions, contact: Laurel Spooner, RN, BSN, Education Coordinator, Mid-Florida Medical Services, 200 Ave. F, NE, Winter Haven, FL 33881. Telephone: (941) 293-1121, ext. 3336. Fax: (941) 291-6022.
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