It’s no secret that quality patient care is tied to a well-educated nursing workforce. In fact, research has shown that lower mortality rates, fewer medication errors, and positive patient outcomes are all related to nurses prepared at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels (Lippincott Solutions, 2015).

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WHAT ABOUT PATIENT EDUCATION

We have just seen that nursing education positively impacts patient outcomes, but what about patient education? At the core of health care reform is the call to have educated patients interacting with responsive health care teams. For education to be successful, patients need to be engaged to understand the benefits of health education. Research shows that when patients are engaged in their health care, there are significant improvements in health outcomes, patient safety, and health care quality. Moreover, patient engagement also leads to lower health care costs.

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What is patient engagement? Patient engagement combines the patient’s ability, knowledge, skills, and willingness with interventions that are designed to increase positive patient behavior – behavior that ultimately improves health and patient outcomes.

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KNOWLEDGE IS HEALTH

By empowering patients with education and knowledge about their health, you can improve patient outcomes, patient safety, and health care quality, and improve patient satisfaction.