Health Literacy: Nurses Importance to Healthcare

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1 Are nurses ethically responsible to assess for health literacy?
Nurses are ethically responsible for assessing health literacy because they have the knowledge and skills to evaluate the degree to which people can obtain process and understand basic health information and services required to make informed health decisions. Their knowledge and communication skills are the essential factors for the evaluation. Loan, et al., (2018) noted that the ability of nurses to communicate effectively with patients with low literacy relies on the capacity to identify this problem and create a patient-centered and shame-free healthcare setting. Because most patients with low literacy levels experience shame and embarrassment, they often feel free to talk to nurses since nurses have established therapeutic relationships with them and are ethically required to maintain the privacy of their patients.
Nurses also understand their patients better than anyone else. They can place the literacy issue in the context of patient safety, improved health outcomes, and reduced litigation. Their ultimate goal is to provide quality healthcare. While assessing the literacy level, they can uphold this goal by using the assessment results to determine the patients that need health education to improve their literacy level (Loan, et al., 2018). Simply put, low health literacy is linked to poor health outcomes that nurses can affect.
2 What are the health literacy rates in your State (identify) and county (identify)?
The health literacy rates in Washington State are as follows. The rate at or above level three literacy is 56% above the national rate (46%) (PIAAC). At level two literacy, the rate is 28% below the national rate (32%) (PIAAC). The rate at or below level one literacy is 16% below the national rate (32 %) (PIAAC). The average literacy scale score of Washington State is 275 above the national average (PIAAC). This means that Washington has an average literacy level, given that the average literacy scale score ranges between 189 and 300(PIAAC). The rate at or above level three literacy is also below the percentage proficiency level (77%) (PIAAC), implying that the average population in Washington has the knowledge and skills to make appropriate healthcare decisions.
In Pierce County, WA, the rate at or above literacy level is 52 %(PIAAC). At level two literacy, the rate is 31%, whereas the rate at or below level one literacy is 31% (PIAAC). Given that the percentage proficiency level is 77% (PIAAC), it is suitable to note that the literacy level in Pierce County is moderate. The average literacy scale score of Pierce County also confirms that people in this county have average literacy levels.
3 Based on these health literacy rates, how can you approach evidence-based patient care regarding health literacy in your practice?
Based on these healthcare literacy rates, I would approach evidence-based care by providing evidence on the level of health literacy to identify the areas with a low literacy level in the State. Evidence-based care relies on the best available evidence with healthcare ex...