Approved for 8 clock hours by Commission on Case Manager Certification from 1/1/08 to 12/31/09.

The purpose of this course is to provide nurses with theoretical information and practical strategies that can help them improve their skills as patient educators. After studying the information presented here, you will be able to:

• Explain why patient education is a growing need in the United States.
• Describe theories that are relevant to designing effect patient education programs.
• Describe the processes involved in patient education.
• Discuss the role of the family in patient education and propose strategies to build teaching partnership with family members.
• Discuss the impact of the patient’s age and developmental level on patient education.
• Describe ways in which culture influences health care practices and patient education.
• Discus the incident of noncompliance and the ways in which a nurse can help patients and families follow treatment recommendations.
• Describe ways to help teach patients who have low literacy skills.
• Identify resources for patient education.
• Describe how patients and families can learn to evaluate healthcare information from the Internet.