pielęgniarki środowiskowe

podstawowa opieka zdrowotna

edukacja

choroby cywilizacyjne

Lifestyle diseases prevention in primary health care is supported by broadly defined health education provided on the initiative as well as with the participation of district nurses, both in surgeries and during home visits. The aim of the study was an attempt at estimating the range of health education services provided by primary health care district nurses. It was also analysed whether their educational work was influenced by their professional qualifications, workplace, and form of employment. The group under survey covered 194 district nurses employed in 70 primary health care centres in the Lublin Region selected at random (35 in urban and 35 in rural areas). The research method applied was a survey questionnaire, and the technique used was a diagnostic survey. 83% of the respondents claimed that they provided their patients with advice and recommendations concerning proper lifestyle and diet. Urban district nurses, employed in the non-public sector who have completed a degree course in district nursing undertake this more frequently. 57% of the nurses under survey instruct their patients how to make breast self-examination. The results have shown that the higher their professional qualifications, the more active they were in providing health education. The participation of district nurses in patients’ education and health behaviour promotion is not satisfactory, especially in primary health care centres in rural areas and in the public sector.