Fundamentals of Nursing: Chapter 25 Patient Education

Purposes of Patient Education

• The primary goal of patient education is to help individuals, families, or communities achieve optimal levels of health.
• Maintenance and promotion of health and illness prevention.
• Restoration of health.
• Coping with impaired functions.

Teaching and Learning

• Teaching involves imparting knowledge through a series of directed activities.
• Learning is the process of understanding and applying newly acquired concepts.
• Nurses are legally responsible for providing education to all patients.

Domains of Learning

• Cognitive learning.
• Affective learning.
• Psychomotor learning.

Basic Learning Principles

• Motivation to learn is crucial, and nurses can use theory to enhance motivation and learning.
• Cultural factors, active participation, and readiness to learn are important considerations.
• Ability to learn is influenced by developmental capability, learning in children, adult learning, health literacy, and learning disabilities.
• Physical capability and learning environment also impact learning.

Clinical Judgment in Patient Education

• Nurses should use their knowledge of a patient's health condition to predict the topic and level of instruction required.
• In clinic, home care, and rehabilitation settings, nurses have more time to identify patients' learning needs and provide comprehensive ongoing education.
• In acute care settings, nurses should identify patients' resources early, engage individuals early in instruction, and confirm with patients and family caregivers what is most important for them to learn.

Nursing Process

• Assessment involves identifying learning needs, motivation to learn, readiness and ability to learn, environmental factors, resources for learning, and health literacy.
• Analysis and nursing diagnosis involve analyzing patient data to identify learning needs.
• Planning and outcomes identification involve setting priorities, timing, and organizing teaching material.
• Implementation involves maintaining learning attention and participation, building on existing knowledge and ability, and teaching approaches such as telling, participating, entrusting, and reinforcing.
• Implementation also involves incorporating teaching with nursing care, using instructional methods such as verbal one-on-one discussion, group instruction, and demonstrations, and considering cultural diversity, illiteracy, and other disabilities.
• Evaluation involves assessing patient outcomes and using the teach-back method to confirm understanding.