Hospital nurses' perceptions of patient teaching

Patient teaching in general hospitals is becoming increasingly important both due to higher patient turnover and the principles of self-care. This study focuses on how hospital nurses describe ideals and realities in teaching adult patients in a general hospital, and how they describe the factors affecting their teaching function. The study has a qualitative approach. Fourteen registered nurses, working in a general hospital, are interviewed. The interviews are semistructured. The four stages adapted from Glaser & Strauss' grounded theory approach are used as a support in the elaboration and the analysis of the data. The study shows that the ideals about patient teaching are rather weakly articulated. The realities are, however, more distinctly described. Empirical findings reveal two different 'teaching processes' articulated by the informants. Both processes are novel and different from the traditional teaching process mentioned in the literature. Which processes the nurses are applying in the clinic seem to depend on the objective and content of the patient teaching. This evidence has so far not been reported in previous studies. Regarding the factors affecting their patient teaching, the nurses emphasize the following three; The nurses' qualifications, training in the teaching function and the organizational setting.