Nurses’ Experiences and Perceptions of Using Online Resources for Patient and Family Education

Abstract

Nurses, as educators of hospitalized patients and their families, can play a major role in helping consumers discover and use quality online health information. Nurses access online content to build their own knowledge base, to share resources with patients and their families during the hospital stay, and to refer them to resources they might want to read on their own. Richer understanding of nurses’ experiences using the Internet to educate patients can help librarians develop and promote more effective materials. In this qualitative study, a librarian interviewed ten nurses about their experiences providing patient education. Three themes emerged: teaching as a constant process, teaching as personal and individual, and teaching as social.