Wellness Wednesday – 3 Tips for Patient Engagement with Nurse Lauren
Hi there, Nurse Lauren here with your Wellness Wednesday tips! When is the last time you saw a doctor? Do you know if there are tests you should be taking yearly? If you needed to see the results of a recent medical test you took, could you access it easily? Today let’s talk about patient engagement!
1. Find out if your doctor and/or hospital has on online portal. if it does – sign up for it! This is the easiest and most comprehensive way to keep your personal medical records in one place and it is as easy as opening Instagram!
2. Has it been a few years since you went to the doctor for a wellness visit? If so, make an appointment with your primary care physician. At your visit, discuss what you should be doing yearly or by a certain age. Check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (@CDCgov) Prevention Checklists for adults, women, children, and pregnant women. These checklists include tests, screenings, and vaccines you should be getting at designated years of age.
I keep a running note in my phone with things I want to discuss with my doctor. I add dates and how long the symptoms lasted. Then when I’m at my appointment, I bring up the note and there are my talking points.
3. Ask your physicians how far in advance their calendars are open. If they are open for a year – schedule your next appointment before you leave the office! Once you’ve researched and discussed with your physician what preventative steps you can take to ensure your own well-being – calendar those reminders and tests into your electronic calendar. Try this tip: calendar the month the test should be taken AND calendar a reminder to make the appointment 6 months and 3 months before. This is especially helpful for tests you only have to take every two, three, or five years.
This is Nurse Lauren, contributor of NursesNOW, signing off with your Wellness Wednesday Tips. Patient Engagement might sound like some scary thing – but really all it means is be involved! Ensure you are healthy because you are knowledgable and active in your own healthcare plan. Now go call your doctor and schedule a visit!
ICYMI – My other Blog posts, plus Nurses NOW Weekly Roundups and Friday Fives.
