Documenting patient education: a literature review

Lack of time is cited as the most common reason why staff nurses neglect to document patient education. Consumer rights, standards of practice, and other laws regulating nursing practice require nurses to teach patients. Administration and staff development can enhance nurses' efforts to document more effectively. Forms and flowsheets detailing content and learner outcomes and tracking patients' progress can affect the quality of documentation. Nurses are encouraged to continue developing new forms and flowsheets and to share their products with others.