Educating Patients: Creating Teaching Moments in Practice
106
provide patients with the knowledge they need for successful outcomes. Teaching moments and teachable moments defined The terms teaching moment and teachable moment have been used syn- onymously, but there are differences. A teachable moment is defined in a dictio - nary as “a time that is favorable for teach- ing something, such as proper behavior” (Merriam-Webster, 2022). When referring to patient teaching, for many years the “teachable moment” was considered a time when a healthcare professional identified an opportunity to provide edu - cation to a patient. Nowadays the teach- able moment, in the context of patients in a healthcare setting, is focused on behav- ioral change, specifically creating healthy behaviors. A teachable moment is known as an opportunity to change behavior in a positive way that can be based on pa- tient queues (Locke, 2022; Reynolds et al., 2020; Robinson et al., 2020). Teach- able moments have also been associated with educating healthcare profession- als through learning opportunities (Finla & Yeow, 2022; Kaban & Posnick, 2022; Keefe, 2022; Locke, 2022). Descriptions of teaching moments and teachable mo- ments include that these times arise spon- taneously rather than being planned for. The goal is to guide learning at the pace of the learner, while exploring problems and situations (Locke, 2022; Reynolds et al., 2020). Multiple variations in definitions and descriptions of teaching moment and teachable moment can cause confusion. For the purposes of this course, the term teaching moment will be used. The de- scription of a teaching moment for this course is an unexpected opportunity in which a healthcare professional can pro-
vide brief teaching to the patient or fam- ily. The teaching moment involves infor- mal education at the time and can evolve into a formalized teaching process. Components of the teaching moment Teaching moments can be found at any time, in any situation, with any patient or family member. In addition to provid- ing new knowledge, frequent teaching moments can enhance formal education that has been previously given. Teach- ing moments help develop relationships between patients and healthcare profes- sionals, and they assist in creating em- powered, involved patients and families (Marshall, 2016). There are important factors that make up a teaching moment. Initially, health- care professionals must identify the teach- ing moment itself. Teaching moments can be found within discussions between the patient and healthcare professional. Healthcare professionals can discover a lack of patient knowledge or misinforma- tion by statements that patients make, or this information can be elicited through patient interviews (King, 2018; Robinson et al., 2020). For example, performing a baseline knowledge check or having pa- tients perform teach-back can show if a patient has a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed. Patients can also voice concerns, ask questions, or indicate they have an interest in their health, all situ- ations that provide other teaching mo- ments. Nonverbal cues can also indicate whether a patient understands informa- tion. Examining patient behaviors can also indicate teaching moments (Horne, 2021; King, 2018). An example is review- ing immunizations and discovering a pa- tient is not up to date.
Powered by FlippingBook