Repensando o ato de educar nossos pacientes

Abstract

The act of educating patients is part of the nurse's work process: assisting; yet how many of us feel adequately prepared to teach our patients about self-care? I have no doubt, that we know what is necessary and also what should be taught to the patients, the question is, are we prepared to teach? At first the answer is that we are not prepared for this activity. In this context we can also add that the activity of training/education of patients is not valued properly and that many still believe that expertise comes with practice, and that anyone who knows how to do knows how to teach, which I completely disagree with. Some basic concepts are fundamental to our qualification, the understanding that teaching and learning are different, that people learn in different ways and that our way of learning can interfere with our way of teaching. According to Knowles¹, adults learn based on six principles among them: motivation, past experiences influence the acquisition of new knowledge, they need clear objectives and practical relevance for learning and they like to be respected. The learning takes place when there is some kind of change (knowledge, attitude, habits, behaviour). However, we must consider that our patient, besides being an adult, most of the times are carriers of chronic diseases that can have several manifestations, including depressive symptoms, reduced attention and reduced concentration level, requiring many repetitions² making the activity of teaching a challenge.