Myocardial infarction patients' learning needs: Perceptions of patients, family members and nurses.
Emil Huriani
PMID 31508450WHAT IT FOUND
Cardiac nurses rated myocardial infarction patients' learning needs higher than patients and families did.
Patients prioritized medication information; families in the cardiac care unit prioritized symptom management. Ask patients what they need to learn.
Key findings
01Patients prioritized medication information in all three patient settings.
02Family members prioritized symptom management in the cardiac care unit, but medication information in the cardiac ward and polyclinic.
03Nurses rated overall learning needs higher than patients and families did, and cardiac ward nurses differed from most other groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done at Dr. M Djamil Hospital in Indonesia, so the priorities may not match care in other settings. Patients had to have normal vital signs and no cognitive impairment, so results may not apply to sicker or cognitively impaired patients. Some patients answered in both the cardiac care unit and the cardiac ward, so the patient groups were not fully independent. Not all patients had a family member present, and nurses in the polyclinic were not included, so the picture of family and nurse views is incomplete. The study measured reported learning needs, not whether health education changed self-care, medication adherence, or rehospitalisation. The paper reports the original questionnaire's reliability but not the reliability of the translated version in this sample.
Declared interests
The author declared no competing interests. Funding came from operational support for public higher education institution (BOPTN) at Universitas Andalas. The funding body played no role in design, execution, analysis, data interpretation, writing, or submission.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nurses know what each patient wants to learn. Nurses rated learning needs higher than patients and families did, and the study measured perceptions, not whether education met needs or improved outcomes.