Health education in nursing: perceptions of practice in acute settings

A postal questionnaire survey design was utilized to establish a national overview of perceptions of health education practice in general acute ward settings. Questionnaires were sent to individuals identified as the most senior nurse within each district health authority in England (n = 195). Respondents were asked to specify--with the help of their nursing teams--the progress made on wards within their respective district health authorities in relation to a range of health education activities. A response rate of 73% (n = 142) was achieved. The majority of responses reflected the perceptions of senior nurse managers or their deputies. The data showed that respondents felt health education activities generally are a feature of nursing practice on acute wards. However, on the majority of wards, they were seen as only partially included into some areas of nursing practice. On only a small proportion (4%) of wards was health education of any type reported not to be a feature of practice. Of the five specific health education areas explored in the questionnaire, 'patient education' and 'information-giving' were felt to be occurring on a significantly greater number of wards and significantly more frequently than 'encouraging patients and their families to participate in care'. Data analysis also showed that all the activities specified--that is, patient education, information-giving, healthy lifestyle advice and encouraging patient and family participation in care--were positively correlated.