Running head: NURSES DONT HAVE TIME

Root Cause-Analysis Paper-Nurses Dont Have Time for Bedside Education

Brenda Alexander
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing
Professor Cynthia Woods RN, MSN
Nursing 3206
October 16, 2016

Author Note
Honor code: I pledge

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Nurses Dont Have Time for Bedside Education

Patient education according to Webster is nursing teaching of the patient. It is the process of
assisting the patient to gain knowledge, skill, and a value or attitude related to a health problem
or health promotion (Webster, n.d.). With the information that is shared with the patient, it allows
them to take better care of themselves by adopting a healthy lifestyle, knowing the correct use of
a medication and the care and management of diseases or injuries at home (Medical Dictionary,
2012). Education empowers the patient to make decisions related to ongoing health care and
treatments. Nurses recognize the importance of patient education, but continue to be frustrated
by the lack of time and resources to complete the task (Nurses Together, 2012). As insurance
restraints are weighing down with shorter lengths of stay for each patient, nurses know they have
a limited time to help the patient understand their disease process and how to manage things at
home. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the patient and family to continue to gain
improvements and to maintain health through self-care (Nurses Together, 2012). The purposes of
this paper is to show some of the restraints that nurses feel with attempting to educate patients in
the hospital and to make some suggestions for improving the education process.
Health care education and delivery has become a challenge for nurses. Nurses are
challenged each day to make sure that the patients in their care have the necessary information
needed to make informed decisions (Beagley, 2011). Time constraints because of staffing issues
and testing and procedures that the patient has been scheduled and the lack of knowledge on a
particular topic are areas that healthcare workers struggle. There are also some barriers to patient
education that the nurse has to take into account when attempting to educate. Some of these
obstacles include language, literacy, physiological needs- i.e. is patient in pain, and culture

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(Beagley,2011). Much of the information that is given to the patient is intended to educate the
patient on self-care at home, following the dependence of nurses in the hospital (Loxton, 2016).
As patients are overwhelmed with a new diagnosis or all they must do to care for a chronic
illness, they become anxious making it hard for them to remember the important information
given when they were being educated.
When organizing the framework of educating patients we need to keep these things in
mind. Be culturally aware- in some cultures illness is a family event. Make sure that you include
family in your education. Presume that patients can be responsible for their care. Allow patients
to participate in the learning process. Provide optimal learning enviornments for patients. Give
patients your undivided attention and do not attempt to teach if the patient is sleepy, hungry or in
pain (University Alliance, n.d.). Our world has changed a great deal over the centuries. The
methods available to teach patients has expanded. Technology has assisted to make educational
materials more readily available. Patients specific needs can be met and educational material can
be customized, i.e. if materials need to be in another language or large print (Practical Nursing,
n.d.). Education of patients should begin upon admission. Emphasizing what is necessary-as
patients are losing their independence, teach them what is needed for them to complete self-care.
Choose the right time-i.e. when giving meds or taking a meal. Look for teaching moments, such
as when you empty a foley, asking the patient why it is important to monitor fluid intake and
output. Make sure that goals and objectives are clearly defined so that the patient is aware of
what to expect (Ward, 2012). Nurses and other healthcare professionals are becoming more
aware of the impact of poor health literacy on outcomes. Many of the educational materials sent
home with the patients are complex. We must make sure we make it understandable for the
patient and their family so they can take good care of themselves.

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So we as healthcare workers can engage folks and organizations to become more

knowledgeable about their health, more prepared for procedures and experiences, more
motivated to take ownership of their wellbeing and as a results be more satisfied with the care
they receive. If nurses will assess all patients for learning needs at the time of admission and
reassess throughout their hospital stay, it will be individualized and based on the patients needs.
Nurses need to educate at each patient encounter so that the patients and families in our care will
have all the tools that needed in order to care for themselves at home. If education is completed
in short intervals, nurses will not be as frustrated that they do not have the time to educate the
patients in their care. All of us are better at remembering if we hear things in small amounts. So
if it is completed with each patient encounter we can assure that patients have the information
that they need to live a healthy life and can assist in making decisions about their care. So
educate and give the patients the skills, beliefs, habits and knowledge they need. Educating
patients effectively can also improve the satisfaction of healthcare workers as well because they
know that someones quality of life was impacted in a positive way.

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Fish Bone Diagram-Nurses Dont Have Time for Bedside Education

Literature not readily

available
Equipment

Environment

No DVD players available

Literature is not at hand

Post surgical

Pain

Problem/Issue- Bedside
__Educational material is too high __________No family present _____________________
nurses do not have the time

____
ANA nurse practice act

Nurse to Patient ratio

Bon Secoures policies and

Procedures

Staff not trained on what is being taught

Policy/
Procedure

Personnel

to educate.

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6
References

Beagley, L. (2011). Educating Patients: Understanding Barriers, Learning Styles, and

Teaching Techniques. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21939886
Loxton, Matthew Humphrey. (2016). Medscape Patient Education: The Nurse A Resourse
of Actionable Information. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/453348
NT Contributor. (Nov, 2012). Nurses Together: No Time to Teach? The Role of Patient
Education in Nursing. Retrieved from
http://www.nursetogether.com/notimetoteachtheroleofpatienteducationinnursing
Patient Education. (2012). Medical Dictionary for Health Professionals and Nursing.
Retrieved from http://www.medicaldictionary/thefreedictionary.com/patienteducation
Practical Nursing. (n.d.). Five Tips for Providing Effective Patient Education. Retrieved
from http://www.practicalnursing.org/five-tips-providing-effective-patient-education
University Alliance. (n.d.). Nurses Effectively Teaching Healthcare to Patients. Retrieved
from http://www.nurseseffectivelyteachinghealthcaretopatients/universityalliance
Webster, Merriam. (n.d.). Merriam Websters Online Dictionary. Retrieved from
http://merriamwebstersonlinedictionary/patienteducation