| Course | NUR-3320 Nursing Science Foundations Theory, Ethics, and Practice |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Applied paper: patient-centered care and safety |
| Length | About 1,004 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S.N., Accelerated Second Degree |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 3320 Module 5
What Matters to Mr. Herrera: Rebuilding Discharge Teaching Around the Patient
Student Name
B.S.N., Accelerated Second Degree, Thomas Edison State University
NUR-3320: Nursing Science Foundations: Theory, Ethics, and Practice
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
What Matters to Mr. Herrera: Rebuilding Discharge Teaching Around the Patient
Introduction
My first attempt at discharge teaching was a failure that looked like a success. I covered every item on the insulin checklist, my patient nodded and signed the form, and I felt proud. The next day the staff nurse told me he had called the unit, confused about his doses. This paper asks what patient-centered care would have required and how it connects to safety.
The Patient
Mr. Herrera, a fictional patient, is 58, works as a landscaper and speaks mainly Spanish, with some English. He was admitted with very high blood sugar and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes requiring insulin. He lives with his wife and adult daughter, who works days. He was worried about missing work and about needles. My teaching was in English, with his daughter translating for part of it during a short visit.
Quality and Patient-Centeredness
Six aims for health care were set out in a landmark report (Institute of Medicine, 2001), which asked that care be safe, effective, centered on the patient, prompt, free of waste and fair. Patient-centered care, in the report's terms, honors and answers to each patient's preferences, needs and values, ensuring that patient values guide clinical decisions. It argued that the system, not individual effort, must be redesigned to meet these aims.
Epstein and Street (2011) separated what patient-centered care stands for from what it achieves. Its values include respect for the patient's perspective, attention to the patient's experience of illness, communication that builds a relationship and shared decision making that includes the patient's preferences. Its value lies in better patient experience, adherence and, in some studies, outcomes. They warned against treating patient-centered care as a set of checklists rather than a way of relating.
The QSEN Competencies
Cronenwett et al. (2007) reported on the QSEN project, which named six competencies every nurse should build. Besides patient-centered care, the list covers teamwork, use of evidence, improving quality, preventing harm and informatics. For each, they set out the knowledge, skills and attitudes that prelicensure students should develop. Under patient-centered care, skills include eliciting patient values and preferences, communicating care provided and needed and assessing barriers such as language and health literacy. Under safety, skills include using strategies to reduce reliance on memory and communicating observations to the team.
| QSEN competency | What I did first | What I should have done |
|---|---|---|
| Patient-centered care | Followed the checklist | Asked what mattered to him; used a professional interpreter |
| Teamwork and collaboration | Taught alone | Involved the diabetes educator and pharmacist |
| Safety | Relied on verbal explanation | Used teach-back and a written dose schedule in Spanish |
| Evidence-based practice | Taught all topics at once | Prioritized survival skills first |
What Went Wrong
By the Institute of Medicine's standard, my teaching was not patient-centered or equitable. I did not ask what Mr. Herrera most needed to know, I relied on a family member rather than a professional interpreter and I did not check his understanding. Epstein and Street's warning applied: I treated patient-centered care as a checklist. The safety consequence was real, since insulin errors can cause dangerous low blood sugar.
A Revised Plan
I rebuilt the teaching with my instructor and the staff nurse. First, I asked Mr. Herrera, through a professional Spanish interpreter on video, what worried him most. He said needles and his job. Second, I prioritized survival skills: how to give his insulin, how to spot a low blood sugar and correct it and when to phone the clinic. Third, I used teach-back, asking him to show me and tell me in his own words. Fourth, I arranged written instructions in Spanish with pictures and a simple dose schedule. Fifth, I involved the diabetes educator to plan insulin timing around his work and the pharmacist to choose a pen device that was easier than vials and syringes. Sixth, his wife joined a session so she could help.
Health Literacy
Language was not the only barrier. Mr. Herrera had left school at 14 and told the diabetes educator that he did not read much. Written instructions, even in Spanish, would not help unless they were simple and visual. The educator used pictures of the pen, a color-coded dose chart and a short video in Spanish that his daughter could replay for him. Health literacy is part of patient-centered care because a plan the patient cannot use is not centered on him.
What I Will Do Differently
My first teaching session was organized around my checklist. Next time I will organize it around the patient. I will start by asking what he already knows, what he fears and what his days look like. I will schedule teaching across several shifts instead of one session before discharge, use a professional interpreter every time and confirm understanding with teach-back before moving to a new topic.
Results
Mr. Herrera demonstrated correct insulin injection with the pen and explained in Spanish what to do if his blood sugar fell. When the nurse phoned him 48 hours after he went home, he was giving his doses correctly.
The Team's Part
Patient-centered teaching is not a solo task. The pharmacist recommended a prefilled pen with large dose numbers, the diabetes educator matched his insulin times to a landscaper's early start and long day outdoors and the case manager confirmed that his insurance would cover the pen and test strips. Each step came from asking what would make the plan work in Mr. Herrera's life.
Limits
Patient-centered care requires time that staffing does not always allow. Professional interpreters may not always be available immediately. Mr. Herrera is invented.
Conclusion
The Institute of Medicine placed patient-centeredness among the six aims of quality care, Epstein and Street explained that it rests on respect, communication and shared decisions rather than checklists and Cronenwett and colleagues translated it into competencies nurses can practice. Asking Mr. Herrera what mattered, using a professional interpreter, teaching survival skills with teach-back and involving the team turned teaching that only looked complete into teaching that kept him safe.
References
Cronenwett, L., Sherwood, G., Barnsteiner, J., Disch, J., Johnson, J., Mitchell, P., Sullivan, D. T., & Warren, J. (2007). Quality and safety education for nurses. Nursing Outlook, 55(3), 122-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2007.02.006
Epstein, R. M., & Street, R. L. (2011). The values and value of patient-centered care. Annals of Family Medicine, 9(2), 100-103. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1239
Institute of Medicine. (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. National Academies Press.
NUR 3320 Module 5 instructions, in plain terms
TESU's catalog description for NUR-3320 asks students to provide patient-centered care with compassion and professionalism, and since TESU does not post the syllabus, module five applies that idea to a real teaching episode. Define patient-centered care with a source, describe what it values, analyze a real episode of care against a competency framework such as QSEN and revise the plan with specific changes. Show how patient-centeredness and safety reinforce each other. Consider language, health literacy and work or family constraints. Some sections assign a concept analysis instead. Ask whether QSEN knowledge, skills and attitudes should be cited separately. Address health literacy as well as language, and describe what the wider team contributed. A brief follow-up result shows whether the plan worked.
How the NUR 3320 Module 5 example is put together
A fictional student's insulin teaching for a 58-year-old Spanish-speaking landscaper looks finished on paper but fails at home. The Institute of Medicine's six aims, Epstein and Street's two-part view of patient-centered care and the QSEN competencies are explained, and a table compares what she did with what each competency required. The paper analyzes what went wrong, adds sections on health literacy and on what she will change, then sets out a revised plan with a professional interpreter, survival skills first, teach-back, an insulin pen and family involvement, followed by results, limits and a conclusion. Throughout, annotations tie each change to one of the QSEN competencies. The team's contributions are described in a short section.
Where the marks sit in the NUR 3320 Module 5 rubric
Papers on patient-centered care earn respect when they define the idea with a source, show how the patient's own concerns shaped the plan and connect each change to a named competency. Readers look for professional interpreters rather than relatives, teach-back rather than nodding and the involvement of educators and pharmacists. Recognizing the gap between a completed checklist and real understanding shows growth. Linking patient-centered changes to safety, such as preventing insulin errors, shows that the two ideas support each other. Adding health literacy tools and team roles shows that patient-centered care extends beyond one nurse. Reporting a follow-up call shows the plan was checked.
NUR 3320 Module 5 help from the desk
Writers often praise patient-centered care without showing it; describe what you asked the patient and how the answer changed your plan. Another frequent problem is relying on a family member to interpret without comment. Define the concept, ask what matters to the patient, use a professional interpreter, teach survival skills first, check understanding with teach-back and bring in the team. Address health literacy. Share the prompt and the patient situation you are writing about, and a free first draft follows. Ask about reading comfort as well as language, and match materials to it. Plan a follow-up call or visit to confirm the plan worked at home.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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NUR 3320 Module 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 3320 Module 5 sample paper?
The patient-centered care paper about an invented patient's diabetes teaching can be read in full here.
What are the Institute of Medicine's six aims?
Care should be safe, work, fit the patient, arrive on time, avoid waste and be fair, in the report's six aims.
What are the QSEN competencies?
QSEN names six, with patient-centered care first and informatics last; teamwork, evidence use, quality improvement and safety sit between them.
What is teach-back?
A check in which the patient demonstrates or restates the instructions so the nurse can see what was understood.
Why use a professional interpreter instead of a family member?
Professional interpreters improve accuracy and privacy, while family members may omit or alter information.