A Study of Determinants of Patients Education Behavior of Clinical Nurses in Korea

간호사의 환자교육 촉진 및 방해요인 조사 연구 : Theory of Planned Behavior를 기반으로

Purpose of this study was determining predictor variables of Korean nurses' intention to educate clients and their significant others using the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Nurses working in health institutions (N=221) were conveniently selected from 2 RN-BSN programs and 2 hospitals in Seoul and Kyunggi-Do. A packet of questionnaires was developed according to the guidelines of the TPB. Multiple regression and Pearson product coefficients were used to analyze the data. Korean nurses showed positive intention to education their patients. They also showed positive attitude toward the patients education while perceived strong social pressure of teaching the patients. Attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were the predictors of the intention as the theory proposed. Especially the perceived behavioral control was the best predictors among them. Time to prepare themselves for the patient education; high self-esteem as a teacher; a perception that patients want nurses as a resource person; and the quality of information that nurse perceived they had were the predictors among the perceived behavioral control variables. Three recommendation were identified for the effective patient education. Nurses should be prepared to teach patients in their nursing school so that they have self-esteem as a competent teacher. The professional patient educators who are well-prepared for educating patients and their family are strongly recommended. Finally, development of a patient education center in the health institution were also recommended for its quality control.