The COVID pandemic has underscored the importance of addressing health disparities and health literacy. Although physicians have come a long way in understanding how to communicate with patients, not all communication effectively provides the information patients can understand or utilize to advocate independently for their care. Patients need to have medical information presented in several formats to best absorb and understand the education we are providing them and to help improve health outcomes.
Recently, a colleague of mine (CCW) recalled the events of a preoperative visit. While my colleague is well-versed in what should happen, she was caught off guard to discover she would not be under the direct care of a physician but solely under the supervision of a nurse anesthetist. Alarmed, she reached out to me, and I instructed her to ask a series of questions that began my curiosity about how patients not as educated in this...
