According to the International Council of Nurses, nurses should be involved in health education and support initiatives for information campaigns. The issue of the educational impact of nurses in family nursing is not entirely new. The notion of the educational, pedagogical and psychological function was utilized by the pioneers of Polish nursing. Also, the current educational standards for the Nursing field of study contain learning outcomes associated with the tasks arising from this function. The aim of this paper is to show the educational function as performed by nurses in association with ICNP®. The educational function concerns the intended impact on the personality of the patient, shaping the desired health-related behavior, evoking a sense of responsibility for their own health, preparing the patients to cooperate in the process of nursing and self-care. The international, standardized terminology used in the nursing care system contains a relatively large number of concepts describing actions and interventions relating to this function. They derive from the master concept of ‘nformation’ and are centered around such concepts as: teaching, directing, explaining. There are also terms of a narrower meaning, such as education, instruction, advising, counseling, or providing guidance for the future. There is a separate category of terms describing the participation of nurses in providing support, reinforcing patient's achievements. The category includes promoting, motivating, supporting, reinforcing, and encouraging. On the basis of the listed terms derived from the action axis a lot of ready-to-use nursing interventions can be formulated. The International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) enables a complete description and documentation of all the tasks relating to the educational function of the nurses.

Key words: classification, health education, nurse.