Introduction
Health literacy is the application of social and cognitive skills in gaining access and using information for the purpose of promoting and maintaining good health. It involves basic reading and application of numerical skills applicable to ensuring good health within and beyond health care environment. This paper focuses on the role of nurses in aiding persons to acquire and utilize such information for their personal health benefit. Nurses are expected to take the lead in ensuring a healthy community. There are many easy that nurses can be involved (Egbert, N, and K. Nanna. "Health literacy: challenges and strategies).
One important aspect of health care is the environment of interaction with the patients. Nursing organizations should seek to improve the environment of interaction between them and the patients. This would facilitate communication. It is important that n nurses help reduce the ever existing gaps between them and patients. The aspect is to improve time of interaction between. This would allow the patients engage in reasonable discussion with the nurses. Nurses should adopt methods such as direct questioning and demonstration to evaluate whether the patients can apply the information. This gives guidance that would help the nurse determine on how to advice the patient on the use of information they gather in the absence of a professional health care attendant. Spending more time with the patients should be by choice rather than by chance (Jankowski, T A., and Medical Library Association, 2008).
It is therefore crucial that nurses not only offer guidance by disseminating information but also help patients in discovering and utilizing resources that can offer adequate and effective knowledge in matters health. This would ensure that patients can only access information that is reliable and that which does not contradict the physicians’ or nurses’ analysis and recommendations (Egbert, N, and K. Nanna. "Health literacy: challenges and strategies).
The American Medical Association offers a platform that incorporates reliable data and offers accountability for the information it offers to its users. One can become a registered user of the site or use the available content without necessarily registering. The organization has a website that is always accessible anytime and has never been under scrutiny for offering unreliable data. The website address is http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/home.page? . Navigating through the pages, one is able to gain a lot of knowledge on the issues of concern. The site offers most current information including evidence-based practices applicable by users. Registered users have the chance to directly interact with the web administrators who are highly professional individuals in health care. It is a sight I would recommend individuals to use and most even sign up as members to gain maximum benefits from its content and services it offers.
Patients have so much access to information over the internet nowadays and it is hard to distinguish the reliable information from that which is not. Therefore it is quite important that they research on credibility if authors by consulting medical practitioners or visiting state controlled sites that offer insight into qualifications of professionals who are authors of material. Patients should as much as possible avoid unanimous authors’ sites.
Works Cited
Egbert , N, and K. Nanna. "Health literacy: challenges and strategies." The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 14.3 (2009): 5. Web. <http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol142009/No3Sept09/Health-Literacy-Challenges.html>.
Jankowski, T A., and Medical Library Association. The Medical Library Association essential guide to becoming an expert searcher: Proven techniques, strategies, and tips for finding health information. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008. Print.
