The Importance Of Health Education

One major component of my daily life as an emergency nurse is health education. For someone outside the health community, the imagine of the nurse in the emergency room might not include education at all, however I think it is just as important and lifesaving as any other nursing interventions we do, especially in pediatrics. We see a lot of nervous parents as well as scared children, who may come in for some frightening situations such as a first-time asthma attack or febrile seizure. These can be traumatizing to parents, and children, especially if not properly educated on what to expect at home. Now imagine that you don’t speak English, or maybe it’s not your first language. You see your child struggling to breath, and you get him to the ED. The doctors and nurses hook up all these masks and give him all different medications. You don’t have any idea what they are doing because you can’t communicate in the same language. The important thing to you is not understanding what is going on, but that your child is being taken care of. He is breathing better now. Everything finally feels okay for moment, until the nurse hands over papers and prescriptions to sends you home. I can’t even imagine the horror I would feel, half expecting my child to stop being able to breath all over again.

Education cannot be rushed, even in a fast-paced setting such as an emergency room. It is important, at the very basic level, not to allow the patient to leave with their family until you, as a nurse, are comfortable that if that child has an asthma attack, they would know how to administer the medications. If not, say something to the team, because something can be changed to make it work for everyone. Patience, understanding, and non-judgmental attitudes are just as important as any medication you might give as a nurse, and that is something I must always remember and incorporate into practice every