Nursing Tips on Improving Patient Care

    Patient Care
    Patient Care

    Improving patient care is the top priority of almost all healthcare providers. Out of all the types of medical workers, nurses make up the backbone of the healthcare system, thus having a bigger responsibility of ensuring patient satisfaction. But at the end of the day, every nurse wonders what is it that they could do differently to improve patient care.

    The quality of patient care does not only depend on efficient procedures or costly machines. Instead, there are many non-medical aspects that every nurse needs to consider when looking to improve healthcare practices and facilitating recovery among patients. As a nurse, you can follow the tips mentioned below to add value to the patient care that you provide.

    Be Compassionate

    Actively listen to your patients when they’re telling you something, even if it’s communicated in a rude way, or if it’s something totally unrelated to the medical case. Focus on their point of view. As a nurse, you will be their point of contact throughout their stay at the hospital, so you should be looking toward building a trusting connection with your patients.

    When a patient feels heard and understood in your presence, he is more likely to open up to you about their condition and also start respecting and agreeing with your medical opinions.

    Importantly, always show kindness towards your patients and their family members. Provide them emotional support, especially to the patients. Seek to understand their mental state and be sympathetic towards their condition.

    Continue Your Education

    You cannot excel and grow as a nurse by staying in practice only. It is essential to advance your education and learn more about this job through professional programs.

    You can enroll in the RN to BSN online program, which is an online advanced nursing program that you can adjust to your own schedule.

    Further education can equip a nurse with better knowledge of medical practices, and how to improve the quality of nursing care. Essentially, this can help you in leading medical teams, educating patients, and designing the framework for service delivery.

    Every Patient is Different!

    Diseases may be the same, but the people suffering from them are always different. Every nurse must understand this. For a nurse, providing individualized care means considering the uniqueness of every patient, like his characteristics, preferences, living situations, clinical symptoms, and more.

    We understand, due to a variety of reasons, it can often become a challenge for the nursing staff. The patients may be too worried, rude, condescending towards the nurses, or have confidentiality concerns. Discuss these with your mentors or supervisors, who can guide you over how to deal with the problem.

    Enhance Your Communication Skills

    For nurses, clear and strong verbal and written communication skills play a major role in improving patient care outcome. Also, it helps them in fostering better relations with their team and patients’ family members.

    Listening is key to effective communication. Also, as part of maintaining good communication, you should deliver necessary information to patients and their families in a timely manner. Research a little about therapeutic communication and practice it when interacting with the patients and their families. Use kind words and a tone that can comfort, motivate, and encourage.

    Strengthen Interprofessional Relations

    Having stronger interprofessional relations will help you in having fruitful collaborations between yourself and the staff. Also, it will help you in building or growing your network. This way, you can easily recommend expert care providers that you may know to some of your own patients. These relations can also come in handy when you are seeking some better professional along the way.

    Healthcare settings usually recommend patient care coordination plans. But as a nurse, you can help your patients choose the most appropriate option of care management while ensuring smooth communication between the doctors and other healthcare providers.

    Streamline Care with Technology

    About 82% of nurses believe that technology has a positive impact on patient care.  It improves patient safety by minimizing errors and making work easier. Always use the organization’s designated tools to enter or check patient records. You can also use other applications or software if allowed.

    Learn about new things on Google and discuss them with your team, or get expert opinion from the doctors. Share interesting things with the patients to build trust and offer help wherever required.

    Involve the Patient’s Family and Friends

    Every patient requires the support and contribution of his/her family members, friends, and loved ones. Nurses often make the mistake of distancing the patients from their loved ones in times of distress. However, patient care must always be family-centered.

    Always communicate with people that are close to the patients. Try to update them on a regular basis and share all important news with them.

    Simplify Your Medical Language

    A 10-year-old boy was brought into the ER from his school. When his parents arrived and asked what was wrong, a nurse stated, “The patient fell due to hypoglycemia. Now he has Epistaxis which is causing Bradykinesia”.

    The parents panicked and there was a frenzy in the room. She could have said that their son Albert fainted due to low blood sugar and hit something, causing nosebleeds and dizziness.

    Always use simple language with patients and their families. Most people are unlikely to know the complex medical words. For this, explain in such a way that people from all backgrounds can easily understand.

    Educate the Patients

    Every day, nurses deal with patients from different backgrounds and qualifications. Everyone does not know about everything. When educated about their case and care management, nurses can achieve better patient outcomes.

    Focus on their medications, exercise, dietary plans, and how to sustain better mental, emotional, and physical health. Teach them about telehealth and online services. Use different types of educational content, such as visuals, auditory aids, and reading materials, preferably in their native languages.

    Promote the Thought of Self-care

    When patients go home, you are not around to give them medication, change their bedsheets, or take them for a walk. Encourage patients to continue their treatment on their own and to stay disciplined in following the doctor’s instructions.

    Make care management plans with them, like setting medicine reminders on their phone, working on a diet plan, and recommending daily exercises.

    Final Thoughts

    Nurses are important members of any medical team. Their task is quite challenging, as they have to work both with the doctors and the patients. If you are a nurse, you cannot offer good patient care if you are not taking care of yourself first. Focus on your physical and mental health. Never neglect your own needs. Also, the medical facilities must take steps to ensure that the nurses are well taken care of and are allowed to perform without any unnecessary restrictions.

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