Abstract
Background:
Urological disorders necessitate effective self-care management to enhance patient outcomes, with nurses crucial in patient education. However, various barriers exist that can hinder education effectiveness, especially in resource-limited healthcare settings such as Pakistan. The study aims to evaluate the challenges faced by nurses in educating urology patients on self-care management and to explore the relationship between these challenges and specific demographic variables.
Methods:
A study was conducted with 135 nurses from urology units in public hospitals in Pakistan to assess their challenges and patient education practices. Nurses were chosen through systematic random sampling, and data was collected using a questionnaire that covered demographics, patient education, and challenges. The analysis used SPSS version 25, focusing on descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests, with p ≤ 0.05 as significant.
Results:
The findings revealed that 54.1% of nurses experienced high levels of challenges, with an overall mean score of 3.61 ± 0.64. The most significant challenges were workload and time constraints (Mean = 3.82) and resource limitations (Mean = 3.74). Patient-related barriers and communication issues were also notable. Nearly 46.7% of nurses demonstrated good patient education practices, while 44.4% showed average practices. A significant association was found between challenges and age (p = 0.002), education (p = 0.001), and experience (p = 0.003), whereas gender showed no significant association (p = 0.488).
Conclusion:
Nurses in urology units struggle with patient education for self-care due to system and resource limitations. Improving staffing, educational resources, and training programs is crucial for better patient outcomes.