Education channels to answer health
concerns
MUSCās two patient education channels,
23 and 24, are following a new viewing schedule that features a number
of new videos added to answer patient and family questions about a wide
variety of health concerns.
On Channel 23 are seven videos related to diabetes: Basic Skills for Controlling Diabetes; Emotional Aspects of Diabetes; Preventing Long-Term Complications of Diabetes, Things Youāll Want to Know; Monitoring Your Blood Sugar: Key Concepts; Diabetes Foot and Skin Care: In Step; and Diabetic Retinopathy.
On Channel 24, videos about stroke: Stroke: It Could Be You, ćYouāre Not Alone, and A Gift of Caring. South Carolina leads the nation in stroke incidence.
Channels 23 and 24 are on every day, including weekends, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Each patient room has been provided with a blue Patient Education Television Guide. The guide is arranged by topic, such as You and Your Heart, You and Your Lungs, and You and Your Joints, and includes time, subject and channel. Most videos are from 10 to 30 minutes long and are designed to be watched by patients and families. Staff are to see the videos during orientation so they can answer patient and family questions.
A copy of the video is maintained in the clinical education office. Therefore, if the patient is off the unit for tests when a particular video is on, the nurse can borrow a copy of the film and show it that evening on the unitās videocassette player when both the patient and his or her family can see it. The nurse or doctor can recommend certain videos for the patient to watch related to the patientās diagnosis or the patient may just decide to watch videos of interest. When patients and families do watch a video, this should be noted on the Interdisciplinary Patient/Family Education Flowsheet. Patients and staff are encouraged to fill out short, one-page evaluations with questions, comments or requests for further information.
Any professional staff member can call Peggy Duffy at 792-5078 and request a copy of the patient television guide. Patients and staff members can submit suggestions for new videos by sending the information (name of video, length, where from, funding source and a short description to Peggy Duffy, R.N., Clinical Educator 741 NT). The schedule will be revised again in May 1998.