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• Nursing roles


  • Caregiver
  • Communicator
  • Client Advocate
  • Counselor
  • Change Agent
  • Leader
  • Case Manager
  • Research
  • Consumer
  • Administrator
  • Teacher
• Education is always a part of nursing care in all levels of clienteles in any given setting
• The current trends in health care are making it imperative that patients and their families be prepared to assume responsibility for self-care management
• Nurses should be accountable for the delivery of high-quality care
• Focus or outcome of patient teaching

  • The patient / his family should be able to learn knowledge and skills for independent care
  • Nurses / nursing students should have up – to – date knowledge and skills needed to competently and confidently render care
• Historical Foundations for the Teaching Role of Nurses

  • Mid – 1800s – nursing was first acknowledged as a unique discipline; teaching has been recognized as an important healthcare role
  • Focus of teaching: not only on the care of the sick, but educating other nurses for professional practice
• Florence Nightingale


  • Founder (Nursing); ultimate educator
  • Devoted a large portion of her career in educating those involved in the delivery of health care (nurses, doctors, health officials)
  • Proper conditions in hospitals, homes
  • Nutrition, fresh air, exercise & hygiene
• Early 1900s - PHN clearly understood the significance of education in the prevention of disease and in the maintenance of health
• Decades after… Patient teaching has been recognized as an independent nursing function
• Early 1918… Nat'l League of Nursing Education (U.S.)


  • Observed the importance of health teaching as a function within the scope of nursing practice
  • Recognized the responsibility of RNs in the promotion of health and prevention of illnesses
  • Schools, homes, hospitals, industries
• 1938… Nat'l League of Nursing Education (U.S.)


  Declared that a nurse is fundamentally a teacher and a change agent of health regardless of the setting in which practice occurred
• 1950 – NLNE


  • Identified course content as areas in the curriculum common to all nursing schools
  • Teaching skills
  • Developmental
  • Educational psychology
  • Principles of educational process of teaching and learning
• American Nurses Association - Promulgated statements on the functions, standards and qualifications for nursing practice
• International Council for Nurses - Endorsed education for heath as an essential requisite of nursing care delivery
• Nurse Practice Acts (NPAs) - Include teaching within the scope of practice responsibilities
• The teaching of patients and families is the means to accomplish the professional goals of providing cost-effective, safe and high-quality care
• Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations - JCAHO

  • Delineated the nursing standards for patient education; to be met through teaching activities by nurses and the patient – family oriented
  • To include an interdisciplinary team approach in the provision of patient education as well as evidence that patients and their significant others understand what they've been taught
• According to the JCAHO


  Providers must consider the literacy level, educational background, language skills and culture of every client during the education process
• American Hospital Association - Patient's Bill of Rights, 1970 - Clients should be able to receive complete and current information on Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis
• 1995 – Pew Health Professions Commission - Published a broad set of competencies that it believes will mark the success of the health professions in the 21st century
• 1998 - Patient and staff education - Role of nurse = educator
• 1998 – the Commission's Recommendations


  • Metamorphosis in the following:
  • Instead of traditional aim of imparting information, the emphasis is now on empowering patients to use their potentials, abilities, and resources to the fullest (Glanville 2000)
  • Training the trainer (through continuing education, staff dev.etc)
• Since nurses are the healthcare providers who have the most continuous contact with clients, we are the source of the most accessible information and the most trusted of all health professionals
• Purpose of Patient Education

  • To increase the competence and confidence of clients for self – management
  • Support patients through the transition from being invalids to being independent in care
  • From being dependent to being participants in the care process
  • From being passive listeners to active learners
• Goal of Patient Education

  Prepare the client for self care : most important action of nurses as caregivers
• Patient Education has demonstrated its potential to: Patients are more satisfied with care when they receive adequate information about how to manage for themselves
• One of the most common cited complaints by patients in litigation cases is that they were not adequately informed
• Health Education


  Introduced from the very beginning
• Health Education


  • Considered the ultimate educator
  • Primary job of Medication
  • Indicate teaching/nursing student patient independence
• Culture Considerations in Health Education

  • Language
  • Literacy level according to Amer. Hosp. Assoc.
• Health Education


  Considered an integral part of nursing profession according to A.N.A.
• When nurses consider at all times patient safety, and well-being


  Caregiver advocate role is assumed
• When nurses teach individuals about maintaining good health, it healthy living, and the like

  It is called Health Education
• Roles of nurses


  • Teacher
  • Manager
  • Researcher
  • Counselor
• When doing Health Education at the patient bedside

  It is called Bedside education
• According to the Natl League of nurses, a nurse is fundamentally


  A teacher and educator change agent