Assessment of Nurses’ Performance Regarding Patient Education from Patients’ Standpoint

Education is one of the patients’ rights and a means to achieve health promotion, disease prevention, increased patient autonomy, improved self-care, reduced re-admission, and decreased anxiety. As patient education is one of the important duties of nurses and since nurses spend a lot of time at patients’ bedside, this study aimed to assess nurses’ performance in terms of patient education from patients’ standpoint in Vali-Asr Hospital of Birjand in 2016. In this cross-sectional study, 262 patients admitted in different wards, who were being discharged, were selected through non-randomized quota sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-made patient-education questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS 19 using descriptive and inferential statistical tests (ANOVA and independent T test). The majority of the patients were female (64.5%) aged 30 years and less (30.5%). Most of the patients (80.3%) stated that on arrival to ward, full education was provided for them. Also, 49.5% of the patients had not received any education during hospitalization. Moreover, 42% of the patients were delivered relative education at discharge. The relatively limited education delivered during hospitalization and discharge according to the patients' perspectives is indicative of the poor performance of nurses in this important task. Therefore, managers need to take the required measures in order to increase nurses' knowledge about the importance of patient education to patients and the way to optimally do it