Abstract

Statement of the problem: The purpose of this study was to find out to what extent the responsibility of health teaching is being met by the health team in the medical and surgical departments of a selected hospital.

Method and procedure used in securing the data: The data for this study were collected by the questionnaire technique. One hundred questionnaires were used in the study. This study was conducted during a five weeks' period using medical and surgical patients who were physically and mentally competent to answer the questionnaire and who were hospitalized from four to fifteen days.

Summary of findings: The data indicated inadequacies in many areas of patient health teaching. Less than two thirds of the one hundred patients felt they were well-oriented to the hospital. Seventy percent said they knew the facts about their illnesses when discharged. All said they were fairly well-informed about their health maintenance and disease prevention. About a quarter of the patients indicated they did not know how to care for themselves at home. The private physician was credited with having given the most instruction and information, the team leader ranked next. Between an experimental and control group to find out if more learning took place when the health team knew their teaching was being evaluated, the results showed no difference in the learning of the two groups. In an effort to find out which of the two services-- medical or surgical-- gave the better teaching, it seemed that the surgical department more fully met the responsibility for patient education.

A limited number of home visits were made to evaluate the effectiveness of home care instruction. Not enough visits were made to make a reliable conclusion. About half of the one hundred patients offered statements concerning their care and some offered suggestions for improvement.

It is hoped that this study will stimulate more research in the area of patient health teaching and result in more definite planning and participation by the health team so that nursing services can meet more adequately this responsibility of patient care.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate Studies

First Advisor

Robert W. Woods

Second Advisor

Catherine Graf

Third Advisor

R. Maureen Maxwell

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1957

Date (Title Page)

6-1957

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Patient Education

Type

Thesis

Page Count

x; 87

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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