Patient handouts have been used by nurses for many years as a teaching tool. A good patient handout can be an effective teaching strategy for additional patient education.
You are Mrs. Andrews’s nurse. She is taking medications for emphysema, diabetes, and hypertension. She has 10 medications that she takes every day. Mrs. Andrews is having financial difficulties, and is worried she might not be able to continue taking all of her medications as prescribed.
For this assignment, you will:
· Design a two-page patient handout for hardcopy or online.
· Consider the use of variety, balance, text and images placed asymmetrically, and simplicity in regards to the aging population.
· Include 3 references (two references from a nursing peer reviewed journal within the last 5 years), date of preparation, and copyright protection.
· The handout should discuss how to prevent the unwanted effects of polypharmacy.
· The handout should list a variety of strategies the nurse could use to assist a patient with the costs of the medications.
· The handout should explain the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics effects of polypharmacy and aging.
· The handout should discuss nonpharmacological therapies that might be useful as alternatives to medications for sleep, pain, and depression.
· Save your handout in a Word document.
