Ask Me 3® in Action Advancing Health Literacy in Pediatric Acute Care

Authors

Yaseming Medina, Children's Health

Files

DOI

https://doi.org/10.63853/TTFE6959

Description

Literature Review: Parents and caregivers’ understanding of how to provide safe and effective care at home is vital. However, elevated levels of stress and limited health literacy face significant challenges in understanding discharge instructions. Patients who understand heath instructions make fewer mistakes when they take their medicine, follow treatment plans, and prepare for medical appointments. Patients have reported higher satisfaction and found that the use of Ask Me 3 was helpful in learning more about their medical condition.

PICO: For parents of pediatric patients seen in an acute perioperative setting, how will the use of the Ask Me 3 health literacy tool impact understanding of medical information and communication with healthcare providers?

Evaluation: A multidisciplinary team provided the Ask Me 3 handout in Spanish and English preoperatively. Nurses Introduced the tool at check- in and reviewed it when teaching discharge instructions, assessing usefulness, and caregiver confidence in home care. Discharge instructions included asking, "Did I explain things in a way you can understand?" (an NRC Health Nurse Sensitive indicator). The use of Ask Me 3 was tracked, and NRC scores were compared across quarters. The tool improved patient experience, achieving 100% scores in Care Coordination, Listening, Education, Responsiveness, and Service Recovery in Q2 compared to the previous year. Overall, Ask Me 3 enhanced communication, clarity, and caregiver confidence. Future efforts will focus on team engagement, ongoing evaluation of Ask Me 3, and sustaining the tool.

Publication Date

11-24-2025

Disciplines

Pediatric Nursing

Recommended Citation

Medina, Yaseming, "Ask Me 3® in Action Advancing Health Literacy in Pediatric Acute Care" (2025). 2025. 7.
https://scholarlycollection.childrens.com/nursing-anf2025/7

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.