BACKGROUND: Effective education of patients is an integral component in reducing hospital readmissions for patients with heart failure and in improving patients' quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To describe the use of a card sort method for determining the learning needs of patients with heart failure and the ability of nurses and physicians to accurately predict patients' self-determined needs. METHODS: Thirty patients were asked to sort 12 cards with questions related to the content of discharge teaching for patients with heart failure. The nurse and the physician caring for each patient were instructed to sort the cards independently to characterize the learning needs of the patient. RESULTS: Patients most often selected the following as the most important educational topics: What is wrong with my heart? What is the future of my disease? and How will I know if my heart failure is getting worse? Physicians selected the identical top question as their patients did 17% of the time. Physicians matched any of their patients' top 3 choices 34% of the time. Questions selected as most important by patients were chosen by physicians as least important 13% of the time. Nurses chose the same top question as their patients did 23% of the time. Nurses matched any of their patients' top 3 choices 34% of the time. Nurses selected opposite choices from those of their patients 6% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: The card sort method may be an effective tool to ascertain the individual learning needs of patients with heart failure.

1999
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