Incorporating Educational Strategies to increase Nurse Practitioner Students’ Understanding of Health Literacy

• Published in: Journal for nurse practitioners Vol. 20; no. 9; p. 105177
• Main Authors: Kershner, Sarah H., George, Tracy P., DeCristofaro, Claire
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.10.2024; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: active learning; Addition; Curricula; educational activities; Health education; Health literacy; Health status; Learning strategies; Medical screening; nurse leader; nurse practitioner students; nurse practitioners; Patient education; Public service advertising; Students; Websites; active learning; educational activities; health literacy; nurse practitioners; patient education; nurse practitioner students; nurse leader
• ISSN: 1555-4155; 1878-058X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2024.105177

Research shows that health literacy influences health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess intraprofessional nurse practitioner students’ awareness and perceptions of health literacy using assignments that required analysis of websites and the creation of patient education materials. Students completed a presurvey on health literacy then created patient education materials on clinical topics and analyzed patient education websites. A follow-up postsurvey included 4 open-ended questions in addition to the original survey questions. The addition of course content regarding health literacy was shown to increase nurse practitioner students’ health literacy awareness (P < .05). In addition, qualitative responses demonstrated increased awareness of the importance of health literacy and the difficulty of providing appropriate content. Findings of the study support the need for health literacy content to be integrated into graduate nursing courses, including the use of active learning strategies. •Health literacy impacts health outcomes.•Nurse practitioner students created patient education materials and analyzed patient education websites.•Nurse practitioner students became more aware of the importance of health literacy and the difficulty of providing appropriate content to patients.