Purpose:The guidelines on the management of patients with heart failure support intensive patient education on self-care.The present study aimed to evaluate the short-term and long-term impacts of a structured education provided by a qualified heart failure nurse on patients' self-care behavior and disease knowledge.Methods:One hundred fifty patients (66 ± 12 years) hospitalized for heart failure participated in a structured one-hour educational session by a heart failure nurse.Patients completed a questionnaire comprising 15 questions (nine questions from the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale[EHFScB-9]and six on the patients' disease knowledge) one day before and one day and six months after the educational session.Possible responses for each question ranged from 1 (complete agreement) to 5(complete disagreement).Results:After the educational session,the total EHFScB-9 score improved from 24.31 ± 6.98 to 14.94 ± 6.22,and the disease knowledge score improved from 18.03 ± 5.44 to 10.74 ± 4.30 (both P ＜ 0.001).Scores for individual questions ranged from 1.26 ± 0.81 (adherence to the medication pro-tocol) to 3.66 ± 1.58 (everyday weighing habits) before the education.The greatest improvement after education was observed on response to weight gain (-2.00±1.57),daily weight control (-1.77 ± 1.64),and knowledge on the cause of patients' heart failure (-1.53 ± 1.43).At 6-month follow-up,EHFScB-9 score was 17.33 ± 7.23 and knowledge score was 12.34 ± 5.30 (both P ＜ 0.001 compared with baseline).No factor was predictive of an insufficient teaching effect.Conclusions:The educational program led by a qualified nurse improves patients' self-care behavior and disease knowledge with a persistent effect at 6-month follow-up.There are no patient characteristics which preclude the implementation of an educational session.