Managing patient expectations.

Nurses and physicians are the leading advocates of patient education and patient safety. They believe that the more knowledge and understanding patients have about the procedures they are about to undertake, the better their expectations and recovery will be. Even though efforts are taken to ensure that patients have been adequately informed about risks, complications, and expectations, evaluation of patient comprehension and understanding remains difficult. Verbal information re-enforced by repetition, written text, and a signed consent do not ensure an accurate or adequate means of truly evaluating patient knowledge, understanding, or expectations.