Every teacher-student relationship relies on trust. A patient needs to believe in his nurse to make most of nursing care. To create a relaxed environment, pick a time of a day that suits both for you and patient. The nurse should consult the patient when informing the family about some information. That is the only way to ensure the patient always provides the nurse with important changes on his health condition. Nevertheless, inform a patient about his disease and ask him what he wants to know. All of this can guide a nurse to what teaching skills to employ.
Learn how to motivate a patient. Set a clear goal with the patient and make her believe it is achievable. Start with easier tasks and gradually increase the difficulty to encourage the patient. Be aware that people learn in different ways.
Some people are visual learners, some are auditory and some are kinesthetic learners. The best way to work with patients is to combine all of these techniques to make progress in a patient's health. Present pictures, graphics, video and written materials. Keep it light when necessary and make sure to have a two-way discussion, not a lecture. It is also important to let the patient do some tasks because exercise makes them more involved in the process.
Health nursing at home requires a close relationship with the patient so it is essential to understand that all people learn in unique ways. Choices patients make about their lifestyle, culture and religion are their own. The main job of a nurse is to help her patient make choices that will improve health conditions, not to judge.
Diagnosis of a disease is often life-changing to many patients and it requires many steps for a patient to adapt to a new health condition. Break up lectures into several parts so the patient can make the most of it. If patient has diabetes, for example, divide the lectures into several topics about the disease, concerns, exercises, diet and medication. Don't move on too quickly. This is a lot of information to absorb.
To measure success of a learning process, go through notes you made about the patient's progress. Ask the patient questions about set goals at the beginning. Another good way is to test skills or to ask a patient to repeat the teaching. Evaluation helps in correcting flaws in further development of teaching techniques in home nursing.