An evaluation of the effectiveness of cardiac teaching during hospitalization.

This evaluation demonstrated that inpatient teaching programs can be effective for short-term outcomes. In this evaluation, patients readily learned information that prepared them to deal with postoperative experiences, that is, ambulation, exercise, resumption of sexual activity, and symptoms to report indicating lack of tolerance to such activities. Areas that showed limited knowledge gain were those that required long-term behavioral change, such as stress modification and dietary changes. These findings are particularly relevant when considered in the light of contemporary events in the payment environment. As lengths of stay decrease and acuity levels increase for hospitalized patients, inpatient teaching must be limited to what is possible and reasonable; that is, what is possible for the staff to teach during the short length of stay and what is reasonable for patients to learn given their acuity. This evaluation was conducted for decision-making purposes about a specific cardiac teaching program. Although the evaluation met the purposes of the evaluators, some of the findings suggested possible research hypotheses. A tightly controlled research study should be conducted using the knowledge acquisition test in clinical settings and accounting for such variables as educational level, years of coronary artery disease, severity of illness, and age. Further study could also be undertaken to validate the finding that hospitalized patients learned priority information necessary for adequate functioning immediately after discharge. With regard to patient confidence level and actual behavior change, a study could be conducted to determine if there is a relationship between patients' reported confidence at discharge and their subsequent behavior.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)