Why Do Nurses Use Health Literacy Skills?

One of the main misconceptions is that health care providers assume are that patients understand what they are trying to communicate. I believe that some nurses are not even aware how much of the medical jargon they use during patient teaching. These medical phrases only confuse patients and other nurses that are not familiar with the specialty being discussed. Research suggests that low health literacy skills can be applicable to persons of all literacy levels (Parnell, 2015). Health care providers may see a well-educated individual and assume they will understand what is being communicated regarding their health. The test results are positive when there is something concerning, but the patient may perceive that when something is positive the outcome is good. On the other hand, the opposite is that if the test result was negative, then the client may interpret that the results are bad.

The concept of health literacy is not new to me, but the book helps to better define its meaning and implications for patient care. Nurses should be aware of health literacy regardless of the population that they are caring for. Health care providers need to consider the patient’s health literacy regardless of their age, culture, education, or socioeconomic status (Parnell, 2015). Our organization is

When the client receives a new prescription from their provider they must determine how to properly take the medication. Parnell broke it down into the following tasks: taking the prescription to the pharmacy, picking up the medication, checking if the prescription is correct, reading the label, comprehending the information, speaking with the pharmacist if necessary, and signing to accept or decline information from the pharmacist (2015). The successful completion of each of these steps requires that the client to be able to read and understand the materials they were