Response to "Three Patient Conferences'

Abstract

There is a growing concern on the part of all social researchers, nurses included, that their work should contribute to the solution of practical problems. Accordingly, Ms Choi-Lao has attempted to provide for improved patient education both pre-operatively and post-operatively through the use of group discussion methods. The problem as stated was "to find a different approach to that of traditional bedside teaching so that the needs of both the patient and the nurse might be better satisfied." Ms Choi-Lao attempts to utilize her prior knowledge of the values of group discussion in such an educational situation, but the question as put is difficult to answer. It is relatively non-specific and difficult to answer on the basis of knowledge alone, as it involves values as well, i.e. how is "better satisfied" to be defined and quantified? This paper, in fact, is a description of the vicissitudes found in an attempted introduction of change. It is difficult to see where it is more than a presentation of the values of group discussion in problem-solving for a very specific group of patients.