Congress Abstracts 2006

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A VIDEO IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. Ellen Carroll, BSN, RN, and Bazetta Blacklock-Schuver, BS, BSN, RN, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

Patient education is the cornerstone of oncology care. Consistent and accurate patient teaching impacts patient outcomes, especially for diverse populations. Increasingly, patients are asked to take on more self-care responsibilities, such as central line care. With a rise in both non-English speakers and self-care responsibilities, new approaches to patient education are required. Moreover, oncology nurses at this institution identified a variation in the care of central lines by patients/caregivers.

To address inconsistencies and improve effectiveness in teaching line care, this project involved developing a video to enhance and complement written materials and patient instruction for both English/Spanish speakers.

Patient, caregivers and staff were informally surveyed on existing teaching methods related to line care. Using responses and hospital protocols, bilingual materials were developed to address identified needs. Video topics were divided into segments including dressing change, line flushing, and routine and emergency care. Patients reviewed segments followed by one-on-one nursing instruction. Videos and written materials were given to patients to take home as a resource. Patients and caregivers were resurveyed to evaluate satisfaction and effectiveness of teaching methods.

Observation of line care by patients and caregivers showed consistent adherence to hospital protocols in both the English- and Spanish-speaking patients and increased confidence and understanding of line care skills were reported. In an informal survey, nurses reported increased satisfaction due to reduced time in teaching and improvement in outcomes.

Oncology nurses spend a great amount of time instructing patient related treatment and procedures. We now have consistency in line care teaching used for both English- and Spanish-speaking patients. Families have information available when away from the hospital to review as needed. Patient teaching is further enhanced by these products; nurses are able to use these products as a complement to teaching, not to replace one-on-one instruction. Clinical nurses have stated that this is a useful tool which opens communication with patients about specific topics. Necessary equipment, e.g., a DVD player, which may not be available to all patients, is a limitation of using this video as a take-home resource. Specific techniques for creating these videos will be discussed in this poster.