Long term conditions: three ways to give patients the confidence to self-care
Why you should read this article:
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To enhance your knowledge of how to teach self-care to patients with long-term conditions
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To understand how patients learn and how to determine what their learning priorities are
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To contribute towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD (UK readers)
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To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)
Community and primary care nursing offer scope for teaching self-care to patients. Patients with long-term conditions can find it helpful to receive carefully targeted teaching designed to support them to manage and live with their condition as well as possible. Providing person-centred care involves equipping patients with the knowledge, skills, confidence and motivation to become partners in their own care. This article explores how community-based nurses can enhance their teaching of self-care to patients, including by understanding how patients learn and determining patients’ learning priorities. The article describes three teaching techniques and suggests a framework for evaluating patients’ progress towards their learning goals.
