Archives of Critical Care Medicine

Background: During their life, people are constantly moving between health and disease. No doubt, health status is associated with health literacy and attitudes of individuals. Patient education commences early in hospital and continues until full recovery of the patient. Also, it provides appropriate information to patients by which they can acquire a healthier status. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Iranian nurses’ perspective from barriers to patient education in intensive care unit.

Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, 25 nurses were recruited using purposeful sampling. Data were gathered using semi-structural interviews. Moreover, data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the content analysis method.

Results: Fivemain barriers were identified as barriers to patient education including nursing personnel shortages, lack of adequate knowledge and motivation, inadequate facilities, ineffective communication, and insufficient supervision and control.

Conclusions: The necessity and importance of patient education and the role of nurses in intensive care unit is undeniable. Re[1]garding the importance of the issue, the barriers to effective patient education should be addressed. The barriers, then, should be diminished using appropriate measurements