en Health Management and Information Sciences Health Management and Information Sciences Original Research: Clinical Science Original Research: Clinical Science <p> <strong> Background: </strong>Patient education is widely recognized as a core component of nursing. Patient education can lead to quality outcomes including adherence, quality of life, patients' knowledge of their illness and self-management. This study aimed to clarify patient education process in teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) in Iran. </p><p> <strong> Methods </strong>: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013. In this descriptive quantitative study, the sample covered 187 head nurses selected from ten teaching hospitals through convenience sampling. Data were collected with a questionnaire developed specifically for this study. The questionnaire measured patient education process in four dimensions: need assessment, planning, implementing and evaluating. </p><p> <strong> Results </strong>: The overall mean score of patient education was 3.326±0.0524. Among the four dimensions of the patient education process, planning was in the highest level (3.570±0.0591) and the lowest score belonged to the evaluation of patient education (2.840 ±0.0628). </p><p> <strong> Conclusion </strong>: Clarifying patient education steps, developing standardized framework and providing easily understandable tool-kit of the patient education program will improve the ability of nurses in delivering effective patient education in general and specialized hospitals. </p> Patient Education Process, Head Nurse, Teaching Hospitals. 491 497 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-844&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Hesam Seyedin h.seyedin@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460016738 200319475328460016738 No Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salime Goharinezhad goharinezhad@gmail.com 200319475328460016739 200319475328460016739 Yes Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Soodabeh Vatankhah vatankhah_s@yahoo.com 200319475328460016740 200319475328460016740 No Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Azmal m.azmal52@gmail.com 200319475328460016741 200319475328460016741 No Department of Treatment Affairs, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.