Learning Needs of the Cardiac Patient Being Discharged from Hospital as Seen by the Patient, His Doctor, and His Nurse

Abstract

For many members of the health team, the following incidents will be familiar: a patient with angina is discharged from hospital with the instructions to "take it easy"; a man with a peptic ulcer receives his diet sheet a few minutes before leaving hospital. On the premise that a common factor in these situations is the lack of communication among the patient, doctor, and nurse, this study was undertaken to identify the learning needs of the patient being discharged from hospital as perceived by each of these three persons. "Learning need" was defined as . . . the identification or expression of the difference between what the learner knows, how he feels and what he can do at the present time, and what he should learn in order to progress toward individually desirable and attainable health goals. (Wallace, 1960:8). A review of the literature would seem to indicate that teaching patients in preparation for their discharge from hospital is beneficial (Cole and Emmanuel, 1971:959; Boyek, 1972-42; Royle, 1973:25) but that there is a lack of such teaching (Monteiro, 1964:29; Redman, 1972:10; Palm, 1971:678). Part of the problem would appear to lie in the communication about the patient's learning needs and in the opinions about who should meet these needs (Redman, 1972:10; Nordwich, 1970:124-125).