title: Orthopaedic patient education practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore orthopaedic nurses' perceptions of patient education practice; the educational skills of a nurse, the content, structure and educational approaches to patient education and its changes during nine years at a university hospital in Finland.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects of this survey were orthopaedic nurses at one university hospital - 56 nurses in 2001 and 51 nurses in 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the whole, no statistically significant change had taken place in the nurses' patient education skills in the two periods compared. In 2001, the nurses discussed more often the learning objectives with patients compared to 2010. In both years, individual education sessions and written material were often used. In both years, the bio-physiological area of patient education was found to be dealt with most adequately, while the social area received less attention in 2010 than in 2001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to our results, no change in a positive direction in nurses' patient education skills and the implementation of patient education can be seen over the past decade. The results of the study indicate clear development needs in patient education practice.
authors.affiliation: Turku University Hospital/Intermunicipal Hospital District of Southwest Finland, P.O. Box 52, 20521 Turku, Finland; Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Lemminkäisenkatu 1, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland. Electronic address: sinelo@utu.fi.
authors.forename: Sini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eloranta
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katajisto
authors.affiliation: Turku University Hospital/Intermunicipal Hospital District of Southwest Finland, P.O. Box 52, 20521 Turku, Finland; Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Lemminkäisenkatu 1, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leino-Kilpi
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016530:Orthopedic Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000451:nursing*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Orthopaedic nurses' perspective; Patient education; Survey