Patient education: post-operative needs

The need for nurses to participate in health education is much emphasised, and yet nursing literature identifies that this activity still presents problems for nurses. This article reports on a case study approach to researching the provision of patient education on a short-stay surgical ward. The study found that of the ten patients studied, satisfaction was generally high, but expectations of being informed and of participating in care were generally low. The nursing staff were committed to patient education, and felt prepared for the task, but tended to restrict themselves to information-giving or advice-giving approaches which were not always effective. Patient education was not always documented.