title: Nurses' informal teaching practices: their nature and impact on the production of patient care.
abstract: Nurses' informal teaching practices have been viewed as secondary to formal teaching. This article places them at the centre of professional nursing practice. On the basis of extended observation of 12 experienced surgical nurses, I assert they teach inexperienced physicians as well as patients, that their teaching is planned but more often informal and embedded in other work, and that their intent is to produce both understanding of health and illness practices and compliance with institutional policies and procedures. Nurses' informal teaching practices are essential to the ongoing production of patient care.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 3J5. frances.gregor@dal.ca
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Gregor
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000193:education*; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*