Patient education is a crucial step toward addressing public health issues, particularly, the threat of colorectal cancer and the effects that the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may have on the outcomes of a bowel resection surgery, including the complications that it may entail. Specifically, as a nurse, one must introduce a teaching plan that will be used as the guide for a patient to follow when learning about the side effects caused by COPD in patients requiring bowel resection. By incorporating the elements of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies, a nurse will be able to introduce a patient to the key COPD-related management of bowel resection in a patient with COPD.
In a nursing context, a teaching plan represents a fairly simple idea. Suggesting a series of steps to be taken in order to educate a patient about the disease and the means of recognizing and addressing the symptoms, a teaching plan implies building readiness and awareness in a vulnerable person (Potter et al., 2019). Remarkably, a teaching plan benefits not only a patient, but also a nurse. Specifically, a teaching plan allows a nurse to ensure that a patient complies with the proposed treatment strategies and can access the required services in case bowel resection is needed. In order words, a teaching plan increases patient autonomy and awareness, reducing the extent of health risk.
To develop the teaching plan for educating a COPD patient about bowel resection and implement it accordingly, a nurse will need to embrace the opportunities that verbal and nonverbal communication strategies provide. Specifically, in nursing verbal communication can be defined as the communication method involving the use of words to convey essential information to the patient (Potter et al., 2019). In turn, nonverbal communication suggests using any other tool, including gestures, facial expressions, movements, and other devices that may potentially substitute the use of the spoken language to transfer data. For a nurse as an educator, the application of nonverbal communication is vital dude to the presence of patients from diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds (Potter et al., 2019). Therefore, learning to use visual cues as the means of introducing a patient to a specific piece of information should be regarded as one of the primary ways of promoting awareness and risk management.
There are two primary non-verbal communication factors to be borne in mind when developing an education program regarding the impact of COPD on the outcomes of bowel resection. First, it is vital to ensure that the nonverbal communication elements used in the process cannot be misinterpreted by the patient. Second, the nonverbal elements must be complementary to the verbal content and serve to reinforce its understanding as opposed to introducing new data, which means that instances of misunderstanding will be avoided. Moreover, since the patient does not have any background in health management or understanding of his issue, concise and simplified instructions must be provided. The table below outlines the essential elements of the teaching plan.
Table 1. Teaching Plan
Purpose : Explaining a COPD patient the nuances of bowel resection and the associated health risks                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Goal : providing the patient with sufficient explanations concerning the outcomes of bowel resection                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Objectives                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Content Outline                                               Instruction Methods                                                                                             Time Required  Resources                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Assessment of Learning                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Bowel resection: purpose of and treasons for the surgery                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. The extent of the risks of the need for bowel resection                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
The key objectives of the learning process include educating the patient about the essential symptoms indicating the need for bowel resection, training the required health management skills (particularly, the use of the colostomy bag), and teaching the patient to access the necessary resources.   3. Available Resources                                       Lectures and simulations using specific scenarios will be used as the primary method of educating the patient.  2 weeks        The essential information will be provided to the patient using digital resources, particularly, digital repositories of information. Additionally, essential information concerning the process of bowel resection and its likely outcomes will be described, and methods of contacting a nurse will be provided.  The patient’s understanding of the subject matter will be tested with the help of short quizzes, as well as personal discussions with a nurse. The latter method will be particularly useful in identifying gaps in knowledge and any misconceptions that the patient might have about the subject matter.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          4.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Types of Resources                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Resource Significance and Role                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

As a nurse educator, one must also keep in mind that the patient education process is dynamic. In the case under analysis, the specified idea suggests that the learning process must be reciprocal, with the nurse learning about the patient’s learning abilities and characteristics, while the patient learns critical information about the surgery. Furthermore, being dynamic, patient education suggests that the choice of the strategies must be informed by the presence of cognitive and emotional stimuli.
The dynamics of the teaching and learning process will also have to be primarily reciprocal for the key goals to be accomplished. Namely, the patient must be motivated to learn about the signs of bowel inflammation and other symptoms indicative of cancer requiring further bowel resection. Thus, the patient will be introduced to the notion of self-directed learning, where he will be able to use the provided autonomy and independence to gain the relevant skills and the ability to assess the key risk. Thus, the patient will be prepared to function in a complex environment with multiple threat factors, selecting the settings that provide the most favorable conditions, managing the emergent issues, and seeking the support of healthcare experts whenever needed.
However, building the described abilities in a patient will require a major teaching effort from a nurse, as well as a number of relevant teaching skills. Specifically, as a nurse educator, particularly, on the issue of bowel resection surgery in COPD patients, a nurse must have several vital competencies. Firstly, a nurse must be able to introduce complex COPD- and colorectal-cancer-related information to the patient in an easily digestible way. Thus, the patient will memorize critical strategies for identifying the risks of colorectal cancer and identifying health risk. Secondly, a nurse must have the skills of organizing information and structuring it in the way that contributes to effective learning. Namely, since a patient cannot embrace the full extent of knowledge about his condition in a single session, the knowledge in question must be split into sections that will be introduced to the patient gradually.
To determine the effectiveness of the program, a nurse will need to make several important observations. Specifically, the patient’s ability to identify health risks independently and be fully prepared for the procedure of bowel resection, as well as its outcomes, particularly, the application of the colostomy bag and the necessary changes in dieting, will have to be evaluated to define the efficacy of education. Another important aspect of evaluating the quality and outcome of patient education includes the extent of the patient’s understanding of the condition and its effects. While the patient does not need to have a professional insight into the subject matter, understanding the basics of colorectal cancer and COPD, their nature, their connection, and the relevant threats is vital.
With the help of a teaching plan that integrated verbal and nonverbal communication elements, a nurse will be capable of educating the patient about the essential characteristics and symptoms of, as well as management strategies for identifying and managing bowel cancer when addressing COPD. The focus on addressing culture-specific issues, in turn, will support patients struggling with COPD in their effort to learn vital information about the threats that colorectal cancer may entail, its main symptoms, and the means of addressing the problem, particularly, the likelihood of positive outcomes of the bowel resection procedure.
Therefore, the use of both verbal and nonverbal cues in teaching the patient has a tremendous significance for the ultimate success of the intervention. The combination of the two will allow for the most effective learning process. As a result, the patient will be fully informed about the health management issues associated with bowel resection given the presence of COPD.