Engage!

One of the most important duties nurses have is to prepare patients for discharge. 

Patients commonly complain that they feel both uninvolved and uninformed about the care process and their treatment. Fortunately, the patient experience doesn’t have to be this way.

In the pre-COVID world, healthcare professionals were able to spend more time with one another and their patients. The ability to convey and exchange clear, accurate information face-to-face played a critical role in producing positive patient outcomes and experiences. 

Picture yourself walking around one of Disney's theme parks, and you come to a section of the park called "The World of PECOT." At first, you think, "Perhaps someone painted a typo on the sign," but it's clear this isn't EPCOT. After reading the sign more carefully, you realize you've just stumbled upon the Patient Experience Center Of Tomorrow. Excitedly, you scream, "come on, kids!"

In the days before COVID-19, the day-to-day hospital patient experience was filled with plenty of opportunities to stay socially engaged, stimulated, and distracted.

A day in the hospital can be long, boring and lonely without someone or something to break the monotony. Perhaps never more so than now.

The American healthcare industry is known for many things—sadly, a pleasant patient experience isn’t always them. In large part, that’s because many hospitals have yet to adapt to meet the expectations of patients who are increasingly discerning, demanding, and technologically savvy consumers.

Educating patients while they are in the hospital is a challenge for busy nursing teams even in the best of times. And in the happiest of situations, like teaching a new mother about breastfeeding and infant care, for instance.

The best way to get patients back in the door is to send happy patients out the door. Improving the patient education experience is key.

Hospitals and nurses have long known that patients who are well educated about their health and treatment are likely to follow their care plan. With increased communication channels, patients are more likely to report better patient satisfaction, both of which positively impact health outcomes and hospital reimbursement.