Barriers to patient education and their relationship to nurses’ perceptions of patient education climate

Abstract

A core component of patient-centered care is effective patient education. Although it is a part of professional nursing and has been found to promote high-quality healthcare, its implementation is often deficient. This study responds to the need for theory-based research on health communication and aims to provide a theoretical framework for understanding nurses' barriers to patient education. Drawing on organizational climate theory, the study examines two possible predictors of barriers to effective patient education, namely nurses' perceptions of patient education climate, and of their role as patient educators. The hypotheses were tested using a cross-sectional correlational design with a sample of 328 nurses from 26 units in one general hospital. Data were obtained by means of questionnaires. The results supported our hypotheses, as each predicting variable was significantly related to the relevant barriers to patient education: i.e. patient education climate perceptions predicted the barriers of overload, lack of policies, and low priority, whereas role perception predicted the barriers of difficulty in communication with patients, insufficient professional knowledge and skills, and the belief that educating patients was not the nurse's responsibility. To conclude, this study attributes the concept of patient education to organizational climate theory and, thus, may offer a theoretical framework for understanding the reluctance of hospital nurses to provide their patients with effective education. Practical implications for reducing barriers to patient education are discussed.

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“…Health services that plan to integrate shared decision‐making into routine clinical practice face various challenges . One such challenge is health professionals' perception of their role as health educators is not important/needed . For example, findings from relatively recent Australian study revealed nurses tend not to engage patients as partners in PI preventive practices .…”

“…59 One such challenge is health professionals' perception of their role as health educators is not important/needed. 60 For example, findings from relatively recent Australian study revealed nurses tend not to engage patients as partners in PI preventive practices. 32 This lack of engagement may depend on health professionals' perception of their professional role as health educators and patient education.…”

“…32 This lack of engagement may depend on health professionals' perception of their professional role as health educators and patient education. 60 Given that patient safety is a shared responsibility, it is important that both parties be involved. 61 The degree of patient involvement may vary and will depend on many factors, including the type of illness or trauma, comorbidities, life-stage transition (eg, end-of-life), cultural aspects of care, personal preferences, and patient's knowledge.…”

The Effect of Self-Care Compact Disk-Based Instruction Program on Physical Performance and Quality of Life of Patients with Burn At-Dismissal

“…Moreover, self-care can cause patient satisfaction, readiness for future, disease-related self-efficacy and, on the other hand, enable patients to afford the health care costs through shortening the hospital stays. 18 As for the implementation of the instructional programs, the selection of a proper instruction method is one of the most significant measures because an effective learning, more than any other method can be provided from a good teaching. 19 It has been shown that teaching and instruction are the most important principles in transferring and creation of new information and knowledge for the formation of any goal that more audience can be attracted if the instructions are offered based on novel and accessible methods employing media and up-to-date systems.…”

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“…The study hypothesized that nurses' perceptions of patient education climate (importance of patient education, based on their daily experience) were related to the barriers of work overload, lack of policies and guidelines, low priority to patient education whereas, the nurses' role perceptions as patient educators were related to the barriers of difficulty in communicating with patients, insufficient professional knowledge and skills, and the belief that educating patients is not their responsibility. The solutions suggested to reduce barriers included prioritizing patient education, offering a supportive work environment, enabling time for teaching, offering clear guidelines and teaching resources, and developing educating skills for nurses, etc 34. .…”