Capella 4035 Assessment 1

Name

Capella university

NURS-FPX4035 Enhancing Patient Safety and Quality of Care

Prof. Name

Date

Enhancing Quality and Safety

Patient education remains a cornerstone of effective healthcare delivery. A lack of understanding among patients about their medical conditions and care instructions can lead to complications, prolonged hospitalizations, and elevated healthcare costs. Healthcare institutions must take proactive steps to enhance educational efforts and promote patient safety (Bhattad & Pacifico, 2022). This paper discusses methods to advance patient education, mitigate adverse outcomes, and control medical expenses. These methods include assessing a patient’s comprehension level and delivering customized, straightforward information. Nurses are central to these efforts, working collaboratively within the healthcare team to ensure patients obtain the knowledge necessary for self-care and treatment adherence.

Factors Leading to Inadequate Patient Education in Healthcare Settings

Inadequate education often results from unclear health information, impeding a patient’s ability to manage their care effectively. In the U.S., low health literacy affects more than 80 million individuals, contributing to preventable complications (O’Mara et al., 2022). Various elements cause poor patient education. Patient-specific factors include cognitive impairments, language differences, limited reading skills, and memory issues, especially in the elderly population with conditions like dementia (Fan et al., 2021). Systemic contributors include staff limitations, hurried communication, lack of standardized educational frameworks, and failure to verify patient comprehension. Neglecting to apply methods like teach-back or not providing readable written guidelines increases the risk of miscommunication (Brown et al., 2024).

If a patient’s educational requirements are overlooked at admission, essential opportunities for prevention and improved outcomes may be missed. Complex treatment plans and multiple medications can be overwhelming without clear instructions. Misunderstood directions can result in drug misuse and adverse health effects. Organizations such as QSEN and The Joint Commission advocate for incorporating patient education into quality care. Effective approaches involve training healthcare professionals, evaluating health literacy, and applying tools that support comprehension (AlRatrout et al., 2025). Nurses lead these initiatives by ensuring adherence to educational protocols, understanding patient needs, and collaborating with teams to deliver accurate, accessible information. When prioritized, patient education fosters a culture of safety and reduces medical errors and expenses.

Solutions to Improve Patient Safety and Reduce Costs

Utilizing evidence-based education tools enhances safety and controls healthcare expenditures. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) evaluates how understandable and actionable materials are for patients, helping hospitals choose the most effective communication resources (AHRQ, 2020). An estimated 42 million adults in the U.S. suffer from poor patient education, contributing to \$106–\$238 billion in additional costs, or roughly 8–18% of personal healthcare expenses (Shahid et al., 2022).

Medicare and Medicaid refrain from covering costs tied to preventable errors due to communication failures, stressing the need for effective educational frameworks. Personalized education strategies tailored to each patient’s needs improve health outcomes and safety. Techniques like the teach-back method and assessment tools help identify comprehension risks and adjust communication accordingly (Brown et al., 2024). Creating a supportive learning environment with simplified text, visual resources, and multilingual options enhances understanding. Supplementary aids, such as discharge instructions and medication calendars, further reinforce knowledge (Davaris et al., 2022).

Staff training and fostering collaboration are also essential. Older patients with chronic conditions often face issues due to misunderstood care instructions. Adequate nurse staffing is critical; a lack of staff may result in neglected education and increased risks. Applying proven education strategies enhances patient knowledge of diagnoses, treatments, and prescriptions (Wang & Lo, 2021). This approach not only reduces readmissions and complications but also minimizes legal issues linked to uninformed consent. By preventing errors, hospitals save on costs related to prolonged stays, emergency visits, and malpractice claims.

Solution Strategy	Description	Outcome
Teach-Back Method	Confirms patient understanding by having them repeat information	Increases knowledge retention and safety
Use of PEMAT	Evaluates readability and usability of educational materials	Selects clear, effective patient education tools
Multilingual and Visual Aids	Offers materials in different languages and visual formats	Enhances comprehension for diverse populations
Interdisciplinary Training and Staffing	Trains staff and ensures adequate nurse-patient ratios	Improves consistency in patient education and reduces care-related errors

Nursing Coordination to Increase Patient Safety and Reduce Costs

Nursing professionals are instrumental in organizing and improving patient education to enhance outcomes and reduce expenses. Effective coordination includes collaboration among disciplines, consistent communication, and using validated education techniques. The CDC attributes billions in avoidable medical costs annually to miscommunication and educational gaps (CDC, 2024). Medicare and Medicaid refuse reimbursement for complications stemming from poor education, urging institutions to prioritize nurse-led interventions. Nurses can incorporate literacy assessments, employ teach-back methods, and utilize culturally sensitive materials to ensure patients fully understand care instructions (Wang & Lo, 2021).

Structured educational programs, led by nurses, include standardized assessments to evaluate literacy and understanding. Coordination with physicians, pharmacists, and other specialists allows for the development of comprehensive, patient-specific care plans (Ho et al., 2023). Nurses explain medication usage, symptom recognition, and necessary lifestyle changes. These actions reduce errors and enhance health outcomes. Utilizing tools like multilingual materials and visual aids helps solidify understanding (Brown et al., 2024). These strategies lead to improved patient compliance, lower readmission rates, and cost savings through avoided complications.

Stakeholders in Nursing Coordination for Inadequate Patient Education

Collaboration is key to successful patient education. Nurses work with physicians, pharmacists, administrators, therapists, educators, safety officers, and the patients themselves. Each stakeholder contributes uniquely to the process. Physicians diagnose and prescribe treatment, offering foundational medical information (Ho et al., 2023). Pharmacists educate on proper drug use and potential side effects. Hospital leadership ensures educational initiatives are resourced adequately, including support for multilingual and low-literacy materials (Wang & Lo, 2021).

Therapists and health educators tailor care plans to individual needs, enhancing patient understanding and function. Safety officers evaluate educational effectiveness and ensure compliance with Joint Commission standards. Even environmental service staff contribute by maintaining organized spaces conducive to learning (Davaris et al., 2022). Most importantly, patients and their families are essential participants in the educational process. By working with nurses, they improve knowledge, reduce risks, and foster a safer healthcare environment.

Conclusion

Improving patient education is essential to enhance safety, quality of care, and cost-effectiveness in healthcare. Nurses play a central role in delivering accurate, accessible information through evidence-based methods. Collaboration across the care team ensures clear communication, increased adherence, and better patient outcomes. Emphasizing education fosters safer environments and contributes to improved healthcare delivery.

References

AHRQ. (2020, September). Patient Engagement and Education | Agency for Health Research and Quality. https://www.ahrq.gov/health-literacy/patient-education/index.html

AlRatrout, S., Khader, I., ALBashtawy, M., Asia, M., Alkhawaldeh, A., & Hani, S. (2025). The impact of The Quality and Safety Education (QSEN) program on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of junior nurses. PLOS ONE, 20(1), e0317448. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317448

Bhattad, P., & Pacifico, L. (2022). Empowering patients: Promoting patient education and health literacy. Cureus, 14(7), e27336. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27336

Brown, C., Dotson, B., Montgomery, J., Sutterfield, C., & Maharaj, G. (2024). Evaluating the effectiveness of using the teach-back method to improve the health literacy of individuals in the community. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 42(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370016.2024.2399347

CDC. (2024, October 8). Health Literacy. https://www.cdc.gov/health-literacy/index.html

Capella 4035 Assessment 1

Davaris, M. T., Bunzli, S., Trieu, J., Dowsey, M. M., & Choong, P. F. (2022). The role of digital health interventions to improve health literacy in surgical patients: A narrative review in arthroplasty. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 92(10), 2474–2486. https://doi.org/10.1111/ans.17931

Fan, Z., Yang, Y., & Zhang, F. (2021). Association between health literacy and mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Public Health, 79(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00648-7

Ho, J. T., See, M. T. A., Tan, A. J. Q., Jones, T., Lau, T. C., Zhou, W., & Liaw, S. Y. (2023). Healthcare professionals’ experiences of interprofessional collaboration in patient education: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling, 116, 107965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107965

Shahid, R., Shoker, M., Chu, L. M., Frehlick, R., Ward, H., & Pahwa, P. (2022). Impact of low health literacy on patients’ health outcomes: A multicenter cohort study. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08527-9

Wang, M.-J., & Lo, Y.-T. (2021). Improving patient health literacy in hospitals – A challenge for hospital health education programs. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 14, 4415–4424. https://doi.org/10.2147/rmhp.s332220

Capella 4035 Assessment 1