title: Polish Nurses' Knowledge of Heart Failure Self-Care Education Principles.
abstract: : On the basis of management guidelines, multidisciplinary treatments are essential in the care of patients with heart failure (HF) to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to assess nurses' knowledge of HF self-care principles as a way to be prepared for educating patients about HF self-care maintenance and management.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nurses providing cardiology intensive care (n = 48), nonintensive hospital care (n = 129), and family practices care (n = 50) completed the Nurses' Knowledge of HF Education Principles survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Student t test, analysis of variance for qualitative variables, the Kruskal-Wallis correlation test, simple linear regression, and Pearson rank correlation for continuous variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean (SD) HF self-care maintenance knowledge score was 12.1 (2.7) that equated to 60.4% (13.4%). Scores were highest among nurses working in cardiology intensive care (12.39 [2.7]) and noninvasive care (12.3 [2.7]) and lowest in family medicine (10.74 [2.3]), P < .001. Nurses' knowledge was associated with level of education (r = 0.1399, P = .05), number of graduate courses (r = 0.1483, P = .05), and specialization in cardiac nursing (r = 0.1457, P = .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Polish nurses' knowledge deficits in HF self-care principles may lead to problems in providing patients with adequate education.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Assistant Professor (Dr Jankowska-Polańska), Faculty of Health Science, Department of Clinical Nursing, Wroclaw Medical University; Nurse (Ms Brzykowska), University Hospital, Wroclaw; Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Postgraduate Studies (Dr Uchmanowicz), Assistant (Ms Lisiak), Department of Clinical Nursing and Nurse, Hospital in Cardiac Department; and Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Science (Dr Rosinczuk), Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jankowska-Polańska
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brzykowska
authors.forename: Izabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uchmanowicz
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lisiak
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosinczuk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000451:nursing* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011044:Poland; D012648:Self Care