Patient Education During Hospitalization From the Perspective of Nurse Managers: A Qualitative Study.
Jessica Longhini, Elisa Ambrosi, Barbara Tescaro and 3 others
PMID 39894050WHAT IT FOUND
Nurse managers said nurses and physiotherapists were main educators, but ward education was often opportunistic and late, with workload and skill gaps as barriers.
No patient outcomes were tested.
Key findings
01Nurse managers described ward patient education as a continuous process aimed at autonomy and safe home management, and said nurses and physiotherapists were the main educators.
02Education content varied by ward, with surgical wards focused on devices, wound care and perioperative behaviour, medical wards covering mobilization, pressure ulcer prevention, nutrition, dysphagia, bowel management and home oxygen, and all wards teaching oral and insulin therapy.
03Most managers said education happened opportunistically during routine care, and workload and bed pressure pushed education to discharge, reducing its perceived effectiveness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 28 nurse managers from 34 wards in two hospitals in Northern Italy were studied, so the findings are manager perspectives from a limited setting. Patients, families, physicians, and other ward staff were not interviewed, so the study does not show what patients received or learned. No patient outcomes were measured, so statements about calls, emergency visits, readmissions, or costs are perceptions. Pediatric, intensive care, and psychiatric wards were excluded, so the findings may not apply to those contexts. Quality ratings and documentation practices were based on managers' accounts, not audited records or observed care.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not state who funded the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read managers' reports of fewer calls, emergency visits, readmissions, or costs as evidence that patient education causes them. This study recorded nurse managers' perceptions and did not measure patient outcomes.