Teaching the home care client

Patient education in home health care continues to hold many challenges for the professional nurse. With the changing climate of the health care delivery system, an increasing number of clients are returning to their home "quicker but sicker." The demand on the nurse to provide more in-depth patient education in the client's home will increase. The nurse must be prepared to make a thorough assessment of the client's learning needs, develop and implement an effective teaching plan, evaluate learning, and revise the plan as necessary, as well as document the teaching. All of this must be achieved to ensure continuity of quality patient care and reimbursement by third-party payers.