Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives

Abstract Background One of the main tasks of nurses in providing health therapeutic services is patient education, an essential component of nursing care. This educative process is necessary for elderly patients with multiple and personalized needs. Hence, this study identified and prioritized the f...

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Main Authors: Afshin Khazaei, Ali Safdari, Mehdi Molavi Vardanjani, Hojjat Farahmandnia, Ali Afshari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-05-01
Series:BMC Nursing
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03118-5
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author Afshin Khazaei
Ali Safdari
Mehdi Molavi Vardanjani
Hojjat Farahmandnia
Ali Afshari
author_facet Afshin Khazaei
Ali Safdari
Mehdi Molavi Vardanjani
Hojjat Farahmandnia
Ali Afshari
author_sort Afshin Khazaei
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background One of the main tasks of nurses in providing health therapeutic services is patient education, an essential component of nursing care. This educative process is necessary for elderly patients with multiple and personalized needs. Hence, this study identified and prioritized the factors that hinder nurses from educating elderly patients admitted to teaching hospitals. Methods Data were collected through an electronic survey (Porsline) via summative content analysis. This study was conducted with nurses in teaching hospitals in Hamadan, western Iran, from December 2024 to January 2025. Seven hundred twenty-four nurses were recruited through convenience sampling to answer the following open-ended question: “In your opinion, what are the causes and factors that you when educating elderly patients in the hospital ward?” Results The analysis was organized into 12 main categories and 26 subcategories, which were ultimately reduced to six main themes, and their frequencies were calculated. The most frequent category was “staff training,” which appeared 1,387 times, whereas the least frequent category was “lack of motivation,” with 91 repetitions. Other categories were identified through data analysis on the basis of frequency and significance, including “hospital setting,” “memory issues,” “attention deficits,” language and communication difficulties,” sensory impairments,” family involvement,” peer support,” mobility issues,” pain and discomfort,” anxiety and depression.” Conclusions This study identified the main barriers preventing nurses from educating elderly patients in Iranian hospitals. Nurses can address these barriers by being more thorough in training, improving human resources, and upgrading relevant capacities and methods, leading to enhanced health literacy, self-care management, and improved quality of care overall for this population group. Organized community in-process support for multimorbidity patients is the key to strengthening self-care management. Implications of all the available evidence The results of this study have implications for practice. These findings may serve as a foundation for developing interventions and policies to address these barriers and enhance care for geriatric patients. Clinical trial number Not applicable.
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spelling doaj-art-ba26e495487c45c79066da8fb0f1f2ae2025-08-20T03:10:14ZengBMCBMC Nursing1472-69552025-05-0124111510.1186/s12912-025-03118-5Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectivesAfshin Khazaei0Ali Safdari1Mehdi Molavi Vardanjani2Hojjat Farahmandnia3Ali Afshari4Department of Prehospital Emergency Medicine, Asadabad School of Medical SciencesStudent Research Committee, Semnan University of Medical SciencesChronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Institute of Cancer, Hamadan University of Medical SciencesHealth in Disasters and Emergencies Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical SciencesChronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Institute of Cancer, Hamadan University of Medical SciencesAbstract Background One of the main tasks of nurses in providing health therapeutic services is patient education, an essential component of nursing care. This educative process is necessary for elderly patients with multiple and personalized needs. Hence, this study identified and prioritized the factors that hinder nurses from educating elderly patients admitted to teaching hospitals. Methods Data were collected through an electronic survey (Porsline) via summative content analysis. This study was conducted with nurses in teaching hospitals in Hamadan, western Iran, from December 2024 to January 2025. Seven hundred twenty-four nurses were recruited through convenience sampling to answer the following open-ended question: “In your opinion, what are the causes and factors that you when educating elderly patients in the hospital ward?” Results The analysis was organized into 12 main categories and 26 subcategories, which were ultimately reduced to six main themes, and their frequencies were calculated. The most frequent category was “staff training,” which appeared 1,387 times, whereas the least frequent category was “lack of motivation,” with 91 repetitions. Other categories were identified through data analysis on the basis of frequency and significance, including “hospital setting,” “memory issues,” “attention deficits,” language and communication difficulties,” sensory impairments,” family involvement,” peer support,” mobility issues,” pain and discomfort,” anxiety and depression.” Conclusions This study identified the main barriers preventing nurses from educating elderly patients in Iranian hospitals. Nurses can address these barriers by being more thorough in training, improving human resources, and upgrading relevant capacities and methods, leading to enhanced health literacy, self-care management, and improved quality of care overall for this population group. Organized community in-process support for multimorbidity patients is the key to strengthening self-care management. Implications of all the available evidence The results of this study have implications for practice. These findings may serve as a foundation for developing interventions and policies to address these barriers and enhance care for geriatric patients. Clinical trial number Not applicable.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03118-5Patient educationNursingElderlyQualitative study
spellingShingle Afshin Khazaei
Ali Safdari
Mehdi Molavi Vardanjani
Hojjat Farahmandnia
Ali Afshari
Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
BMC Nursing
Patient education
Nursing
Elderly
Qualitative study
title Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
title_full Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
title_fullStr Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
title_full_unstemmed Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
title_short Bridging the gap: summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses’ perspectives
title_sort bridging the gap summative content analysis of understanding barriers in elderly patient education from nurses perspectives
topic Patient education
Nursing
Elderly
Qualitative study
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03118-5
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