title: The patient educator role in nursing.
abstract: A stratified random sample (N = 1,230) of staff nurses, nurse administrators, and nurse educators were surveyed for their perceptions of the extent of nurses' responsibility for patient education and of the level of achievement of patient education by nurses. It was found that all three groups rated nurses' responsibility for patient education at a high level. Although the staff nurse group had statistically significant lower ratings (p = .0005) for nurses' level of responsibility for patient education, all three groups rated nurses' responsibility above 4 on a 5-point scale, with 5 reflecting primary (highest) responsibility. However, achievement of patient education was rated by all three groups below 3, the "good" rating on a 5-point scale, with 5 reflecting an excellent rating. The findings of this study indicate that the role of the nurse as patient educator needs to be strengthened. The satisfactory achievement of patient education is essential for the advancement of the nurse's role as patient educator.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kruger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005181:Faculty, Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012380:Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires