AIM: To describe nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education, focusing on organisational, environmental and professional cooperation aspects, and to determine any differences between primary, municipal and hospital care. BACKGROUND: Although patient education is an important part of daily nursing practice, the conditions for this work are unclear and require clarification. METHOD: A stratified random sample of 701 (83%) nurses working in primary, municipal and hospital care completed a 60-item questionnaire. The study is part of a larger project. The study items relating to organisation, environment and professional cooperation were analysed using descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and content analysis. RESULTS: Conditions for patient education differ. Nurses in primary care had better conditions and more managerial support, for example in the allocation of undisturbed time. CONCLUSIONS: Conditions related to organisation, environment and cooperation need to be developed further. In this process, managerial support is important, and nurses must ask for better conditions in order to carry through patient education. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Managerial support for the development of visible patient education routines (e.g. allocation of time, place and guidelines) is required. One recommendation is to designate a person to oversee educational work.

This study aimed to explore the conditions for nurses' daily patient education work by focusing on managers' way of speaking about the patient education provided by nurses in hospital care. An explorative, qualitative design with a social constructionist perspective was used. Data were collected from three focus group interviews and analysed by means of critical discourse analysis. Discursive practice can be explained by the ideology of hegemony. Due to a heavy workload and lack of time, managers could ‘see’ neither their role as a supporter of the patient education provided by nurses, nor their role in the development of nurses' pedagogical competence. They used organisational, financial, medical and legal reasons for explaining their failure to support nurses' provision of patient education. The organisational discourse was an umbrella term for ‘things’ such as cost-effectiveness, which were prioritised over patient education. There is a need to remove managerial barriers to the professional development of nurses' patient education. Managers should be responsible for ensuring and overseeing that nurses have the prerequisites necessary for providing patient education as well as for enabling continuous reflective dialogue and opportunities for learning in practice.

Nurses’ patient education is important for building patients’ knowledge, understanding, and preparedness for self-management.

The aim of this study was to explore the conditions for nurses’ patient education work by focusing on managers’ discourses

about patient education provided by nurses. In 2012, data were derived from three focus group interviews with primary care

managers. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews. The discursive practice comprised a

discourse order of economic, medical, organizational, and didactic discourses. The economic discourse was the predominant

one to which the organization had to adjust. The medical discourse was self-evident and unquestioned. Managers reorganized

patient education routines and structures, generally due to economic constraints. Nurses’ pedagogical competence

development was unclear, and practice-based experiences of patient education were considered very important, whereas

theoretical pedagogical knowledge was considered less important. Managers’ support for nurses’ practical- and theoreticalbased

pedagogical competence development needs to be strengthened.

BACKGROUND: It is important to clarify nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education in daily work as research findings are ambiguous. There is a gap between societal regulations on nurses' competence in accomplishment/achievement of patient education and research findings. AIM: The aim was to describe nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education, focusing on aspects of competence. The aim was also to describe differences in conditions for nurses working in primary, municipal and hospital care. METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional survey and is part of a project about nurses' patient-education. A randomized selection of nurses (842) received a questionnaire comprising 47 items concerning factual experience and attitudes to patient education and 13 background items. Questionnaires were returned by 83% of participants. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and content analysis for open-ended items were used. RESULTS: Nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education differ between health-care settings. Primary care nurses are at an advantage in following research in patient education, perception of their own competence (prioritizing and knowing their mandate in patient teaching), pedagogical education and post graduate specializations. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' patient education must be more visualized and appropriate conditions created at each workplace. In this change process, managers' support is considered vital.