Aim. Assessment of the effectiveness of therapeutic education conducted by nurses working in the internal medicine wards in patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes in the context of the sense of coherence.
Material and methods. The survey was carried out among 100 nurses working in the internal medicine wards. In the assessment of the effectiveness of therapeutic education, the authors' survey questionnaire was used, whereas the sense of coherence of the surveyed nurses was measured by means of SOC-29 life orientation questionnaire.
Results. Therapeutic education conducted by nurses who completed postgraduate studies was a more planned process and covered more topics. A high sense of coherence correlates with a wider range of educational interactions. Over half of the surveyed nurses (56%) showed an average sense of coherence and 44% - a high sense of coherence, what was significant for the effectiveness of conducted health education. The number of encountered factors hindering the education of patients depends on the level of the sense of coherence. The surveyed with a high sense of coherence face more difficulties than those with an average sense of coherence.
Conclusions. The nurses declaring the implementation of therapeutic education of patients used the knowledge gained during postgraduate education. Those who completed such studies covered a wider range of topics during the education process. A high sense of coherence is an important factor, significant in the implementation of the educational function of the nurse, and the improvement of the effectiveness of this kind of education can be achieved thanks to wider consideration of these issues at universities and postgraduate education.
