BACKGROUND:It is important to clarify nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education in daily work as research findings are ambiguous. There is a gap between societal regulations on nurses' competence in accomplishment/achievement of patient education and research findings. AIM:The aim was to describe nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education, focusing on aspects of competence. The aim was also to describe differences in conditions for nurses working in primary, municipal and hospital care. METHODS:The study is a cross-sectional survey and is part of a project about nurses' patient-education. A randomized selection of nurses (842) received a questionnaire comprising 47 items concerning factual experience and attitudes to patient education and 13 background items. Questionnaires were returned by 83% of participants. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and content analysis for open-ended items were used. RESULTS:Nurses' perceptions of conditions for patient education differ between health-care settings. Primary care nurses are at an advantage in following research in patient education, perception of their own competence (prioritizing and knowing their mandate in patient teaching), pedagogical education and post graduate specializations. CONCLUSIONS:Nurses' patient education must be more visualized and appropriate conditions created at each workplace. In this change process, managers' support is considered vital.