Objective: Informal patient education is a common practice used by nurses in the healthcare setting. Informal methods use quick delivery instruction, and often promote self-directed learning and focus on specific tasks, based on the needs of the patient. While there are effective models for more structured patient education programs, they are not typically applicable to informal instructional situations, such as at a patient's bedside, or upon discharge. The purpose of this paper is to: a) define how informal patient education manifests itself in healthcare settings, b) identify, through a review of literature, potential issues arising from informal patient education practices, and c) suggest ways nurses can further support and enhance informal patient education to help overcome these issues. Methods: This review of literature explores research and findings relevant to informal patient education in healthcare settings, including an examination of potential issues related to this often spontaneous, less-structured approach. Also, this review reveals findings that inform practitioners and researchers in this field with further ways to improve informal patient education practices. Results: While informal patient education holds a valuable place in healthcare settings, it also presents issues related to areas such as quality control, assessment, and curriculum. Without addressing these issues, research shows that healthcare providers, including nurses, risk a myriad of negative outcomes affecting both the patient and the organization. An analysis of the literature informed recommendations of strategies to support and enhance informal patient education, guided by four areas: desire to learn, learning by doing, feedback, and reflection. Discussion: While patient education is frequently informal, it can be supported and enhanced to help overcome challenges brought about by this type of delivery. The discussion provides specific ways nurses can help enhance informal instruction in practice. Conclusions: Informal patient education remains prevalent in patient care, but it has drawbacks. By incorporating new strategies in practice, nurses can work towards enhancing and improving instances of informal instruction to make it more effective and productive.

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Understanding the experiences of students who self-initiate mobile device use for online courses or course-related activities provides institutions with valuable insights. In this study, we report how students enrolled in online courses in higher education voluntarily used mobile devices for their coursework and course-related activities, the challenges in using these devices, and how they managed those challenges. We surveyed 103 college students enrolled in one or more fully online courses regarding their habits in using mobile devices for online learning. Findings reveal most participants use mobile devices for convenience, portability, and overall ease of use. The way the devices are used for course-related activities varies, however, with reasons ranging from taking notes and reading course materials, to downloading those materials, communicating, socializing, and other purposes. Challenges when using these devices often relate to access issues and overall limitations of the technology. Yet, despite these limitations, some reported that, depending on the task, even though using a mobile device often took longer compared to a laptop or PC, the convenience of using it was a greater benefit. Participants were surveyed about their experiences prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing additional perspectives for possible future research focused on emergency circumstances to remote teaching or alternative forms of instruction. Additionally, this study provides a foundation of how and why students choose to use mobile devices for coursework and in what ways they may need support from their institutions related to their use.

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