eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Educational Research 2333-4770 2014-06-17 2 7 441 446 10.12691/education-2-7-2 EDUCATION2014272 article Gunta Bēta Gunta.Beta@rsu.lv 1 Rīga Stradiņš University, Liepaja Branch, LV, Latvia Working in health care, regardless of the care level provided by the establishment - primary, secondary or tertiary - a nurse must know and apply the competences and expertise in pedagogy. Theoretical knowledge and pedagogical skills are acquired within the educational process. The development of the pedagogical skills occurs according to the actual situation in the process of the nurse's practical work. Patient education includes general pedagogical coherence and is based on the structure of the educational process, the application of the means according to the patient's needs. Despite the e - learning opportunities that are being successfully applied in many areas, the patient's direct contact with nurses is important because the opportunity to have personal contact and get feedback is an advantage of direct communication that in the majority of cases is a personal and accurate way of communicating. The study analyzes the range of methods used by nurses in the education of patients that reflect the nursing activities in real situation, securing the process of development of formal education. http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/2/7/2/education-2-7-2.pdf cognition education communication nurse patient