Client education experiences in professional nursing practice--a phenomenological perspective

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Qualitative Research
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Client education is a core nursing responsibility.
• Understanding nurses' lived experiences in client education is crucial.
• The literature highlights issues of compliance and power dynamics in healthcare relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore registered nurses' (RNs) phenomenological experiences with their client education role.
• To investigate the phenomena encountered by RNs during client education interactions.
• To identify factors influencing the effectiveness and challenges of nursing client education.

Main Methods:

• A small-scale phenomenological study was conducted.
• Data were collected from registered nurses regarding their client education experiences.
• Phenomenology provided the methodological framework for analyzing subjective experiences.

Main Results:

• Nurses value client individuality and strive to empower patients through education.
• Confirming experiences involve successful educational processes and client empowerment.
• Disconfirming experiences stem from time constraints, low client motivation, non-compliance, and physician interference, negatively impacting nurses' professional integrity and self-worth.

Conclusions:

• Registered nurses' client education role is complex and influenced by systemic and interpersonal factors.
• Interventions should address workload, client engagement, and interprofessional collaboration to support nurses.
• Enhancing nurses' professional integrity and self-worth requires addressing the challenges in client education.