Impact of continued Planned Education Provided by Clinical Nurses on Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Background Patient education is essential for all patients. Nurses should be competent in patient education. Aim This study aimed to investigate the effect of training patients on their self-care capabilities, heart failure health behaviors, and satisfaction levels. Methods This study was conducted based on a quasi-experimental research method with a pretest-posttest design. The two study groups included individuals with heart failure and their nurses and a total of eight nurses working in the cardiology clinic and 31 patients. The nurses were trained on the program “Planned patient education” in three sessions and two meetings. Following the completion of this process, the nurses started their patient education (PE) in line with their training. The data on nurses were collected in pre-and post-training processes, and patients’ data were collected in three stages, including pre-education, discharge, and three months after education. Results The mean±SD score of Heart Failure Health Behavior Scale (HFHBS) in patients in the pre-and post-education period and three months after education were obtained at 47.54±11.98, 63.12±11.12, and 66.90±10.44, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference between the groups. The mean score of the “Self-Care Maintenance” subcategory was estimated at 32.14±15.88, 51.17±17.60, and 53.43±18.14 in pre-and post-education period, and three months after education, respectively. The mean score of the “Self-Care Management” subcategory was obtained at 44.83±21.31, 53.87±19.22, and 8.38±26.18 in pre-and post-education period, and three months after education, respectively. The mean score of the “Self-confidence in Self Care” subcategory was obtained at 32.46±22.74, 48.78±25.78, and 45.91±30.65 in pre-and post-education period and three months after education, respectively. Patients were satisfied with the efficiency of the subjects covered (75.8%), nurses making short, understandable, and explicit sentences (87.9%), the usefulness of the topics covered (93.9%), and nurses’ knowledge (84.8%). Conclusion Based on the obtained results, PE enhanced the health behavior of people with chronic heart failure and improved patients’ self-care behaviors. The PE led to an increase in patient's satisfaction.