The Importance Of Patient Education

Since the early twentieth century, education as been views as a fundamental part of nursing practice and the primary means to improve health and to prevent diseases. Advances in the nursing profession reflect the importance placed on education in the promotion and maintenance of health and its important role in addressing the challenges of global health (Bastable, 2008). According to Bastable (2006), education was identified as the primary strategy for dealing with the multiplicity of health concerns and the nurses in the community was the instrument for this strategy. Currently, patients and community have access to more information about healthcare and health issues or diseases, however, a large numbers to patients continue to ignore recommendations that are designed to help them improve or maintain their health conditions.

Patient teaching is an active process of communication built on mutual trust and respect, which in turn fosters a partnership between patient and health care providers (Falvo, 2011). Patient teaching process allows all participants to share information so mutual goals can be established and barriers to following recommendations can be identified and overcome. Patient education is a process of assisting people to learn health related behaviors that they can incorporate into everyday life with the goal of achieving optimal health and independence in self care (Bastable, 2014). In this process, the nurse is being responsible to assist ill individuals to find meaning in illness, as well as the very measures they must take to conserve health and control symptoms of illness, and cope with it effectively (Finkelman & Kenner, 2010).

Unfortunately, nurses must overcome many obstacles that may interfere with the edu...

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...s others and regulates decision to reproduce behavior. Socialization experiences, role models, and self reactive influences are the sources of motivation for social learning theory (Bastable, 2014).

Although patient education involves providing patients with information, in order to be effective, patient education must also improve patient teaching. Legal and accreditation mandates as we well as professional nursing standards of practice include patient education as an important activity expected to be carried out in the delivery of high quality care. For nurses to fulfill the role of teacher of patients and family members, nurses must have a solid foundation on the principles of teaching and learning. The nurse should act as a facilitator, creating situations that motivate individuals to want to learn and that make it possible for them to learn (Bastable, 2006).