Problems Faced by Ward Nurses During Patient Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify problems faced by nurses working in hospital wards (ward nurses) when developing patient education at the bedside (patient education problems) and to examine the characteristics of these problems. A questionnaire survey was conducted by mail on 1,743 ward nurses from 87 hospitals in Japan who agreed to cooperate in the study. The questionnaire survey consisted of open-ended questions about patient education problems faced by ward nurses and multiple-choice questions about their attributes. Out of 862(49.5%)responses returned, 477 statements were analyzed by qualitative analysis in nursing education based on Berelson’s content analysis method.
As a result, 29 categories of patient education problems faced by ward nurses were clarified, including “difficulty in planning and modifying educational plans to overcome obstacles to achieving individual patient and family educational goals”. The agreement rates calculated by the Scott, W. A. formula were over 85%, indicating that the categories are highly reliable. The study suggested that the patient education problems faced by ward nurses are influenced by factors that inhibit the achievement of individual patient/family educational goals, and other six characteristics. The results of this study can be used by ward nurses to understand and solve their own patient education problems they face.