The effects of two educational interventions on knowledge and competence of nurses with regard to conveying gastroscopy-related information to patients

Interventions to improve patient health education competence among nursing personnel: A scoping review

AIM

To determine what intervention strategies have been used in interventions aimed at improving the patient health education competence of nursing personnel.

BACKGROUND

There is a growing body of research on educational interventions for improving nursing personnel's patient health education competence, but there are significant differences in the teaching objectives, content and methods of these studies, as well as a lack of standardized educational strategies.

DESIGN

The scoping review was based on the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology.

METHODS

In this study, six databases and the gray literature source, the Google search engine, were searched. A search strategy was developed based on the three-step search method recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Two researchers independently performed study selection and data extraction.

RESULTS

22 articles reported on the specifics of educational interventions. The duration of these interventions ranged from a minimum of 1.5 hours to a maximum of 3 months. Most interventions employed face-to-face courses as the teaching model. The studies included a variety of teaching methods, with the most frequently mentioned being lectures, discussions, demonstrations, simulations and role-playing. However, most studies lacked specific teaching objectives and none described the educational content of the implementation process. Additionally, none of the studies developed educational content based on a competence framework for patient health education. Few studies reported on long-term effects.

CONCLUSION

The diverse intervention strategies demonstrated in these studies could serve as valuable evidence to guide the development of relevant educational programs and facilitate the design of future high-quality educational interventions.

Quality of training in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for nurse assistants: a survey

Background:

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatoscopy (ERCP) is a technical and complex procedure requiring highly skilled and trained endoscopists and assistants. Literature so far has highlighted a need for better training for assistants of ERCP, as well as linking the volumes of procedures performed to improved success rates and reduced complication rates.

Methods:

A survey was undertaken of 51 ERCP nurse assistants' experience of training in ERCP from district general, teaching and tertiary hospitals in the UK. Nursing assistants are registered nurses with endoscopy skills or nursing practitioners of band 4 and above with experience in ERCP.

Findings:

Of those surveyed, 93% had undertaken fewer than 50 procedures supervised by experienced nurse assistants prior to being deemed competent, with 63% having performed fewer than 25 procedures. Only 40% felt confident at independently assisting. Attending formal training had little impact on this, but did improve confidence in out-of-hours work. Participants' main suggestions for training were a course involving familiarisation with equipment, close supervision and anatomy training.

Conclusions:

There is a lack of guidance on the correct training and experience required for nurse assistants. This survey's findings suggest many are commencing independent practice feeling underprepared. More work needs to be done to improve the quality of nurse training and support their learning, and further studies are needed to look into the impact this has on patient outcomes.

Effect of Information of Patients' Coping Style on Pregastroscopy Anxiety

Examination of the relationship between patients' coping style, pregastroscopy information, and anxiety associated with gastroscopy in China was the aim of this study. A pretest, post-test, nonrandom assignment study with a two by two design was conducted. One hundred forty-five patients who underwent initial gastroscopy without sedation were classified into 2 groups on the basis of the coping style: information seekers or information avoiders using the Information Subscale of the Krantz Health Opinion Survey (KHOS-I). All participants were given standardized procedural information about gastroscopy as routine care. Half of each group was assigned to receive additional sensory information describing what sensation they would experience and how to cooperate to alleviate the discomfort. State anxiety assessed by the State Anxiety Scale of Spielberg's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, blood pressure, and pulse were measured at enrollment and before gastroscopy. The information seekers and avoiders who received additional sensory information experienced significantly less state anxiety after the intervention. In contrast, the information seekers and avoiders who received standardized procedural information maintained their preintervention state anxiety level. Most patients reported their preference for sensory information. In conclusion, the provision of sensory information could significantly reduce patients' pregastroscopy anxiety regardless of patients' information coping style.

The factors related to self-other agreement/disagreement in nursing competence assessment: Comparative and correlational study

BACKGROUND

While assessment made by nurses of themselves (self-assessment) and assessment made of them by others (other-assessment) provide unique and valuable information as to individual nurses' competence, the subjective nature of both assessments often causes a disagreement between them. This is problematic when educational interventions to foster nurses' competence are designed. However, the question of what factors contribute to the self-other disagreement in competence assessment has rarely been investigated in nursing.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to compare competence assessments made by nurses with that by others, and to investigate what types of demographic variables of nurses and others, and which personality traits of nurses were associated with the self-other agreement/disagreement in the competence assessment.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey design.

SETTINGS

Three hospitals in Japan.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1167 registered nurses, who were practising in these three hospitals, were invited to participate in the study. The inclusion criteria of the participants were as follows: 1) currently working in an inpatient department, and 2) directly involved in patient care.

METHODS

The survey package included two sets of questionnaires: one for self-assessment and the other for other-assessment, each of which was accompanied by an ID number for matching. Collected data were analysed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the scores on competence assessed by nurses and others, and using multiple regression to examine the relationships between the demographics, personality traits, and the degree of self-other disagreement.

RESULTS

A total of 207 matched questionnaires were obtained. The results showed that the scores on the assessment made by others were statistically significantly higher than those made by nurses of themselves. Moreover, regression analysis suggested that the age of nurses (i.e., younger nurses) and that of others (i.e., older evaluators), and nurses' personality traits of conscientiousness and extraversion were statistically significantly related to the agreement in self-other competence assessment.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse managers need to understand which factors contribute to self-other disagreement in competence assessment, and to identify a way to precipitate mutual agreement between them. By doing so, both nurses and managers can comprehend nurses' own strengths and weaknesses, and can determine educational needs and goals regarding nurses' competence development.

Long-Term Effectiveness of Two Educational Methods on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Palliative Care Consultation Services Among Nursing Staff: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study

This experimental study investigated long-term effectiveness of two educational methods on knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about palliative care consultation services (PCCS) among nurses, recruited from a medical center located in Northern Taiwan in 2015, using a stratified cluster sampling method, with 88 participants in multimedia (experimental) and 92 in traditional paper education (control) group. Data were collected using KAP-PCCS questionnaire before education, immediately after, and 3rd and 6th month after education. Results showed that both K-PCCSI and P-PCCSI significantly increased immediately after, and at the 3rd month after education for the experimental group; the K-PCCSI remained significantly higher for the experimental group at the 6th month. The highest increase in scores for both K-PCCSI and P-PCCSI was observed at the 3rd month. There was no significant change in A-PCCS in both groups after follow-up periods, when compared before education. Therefore, using multimedia every 3 months to continue strengthening their knowledge may increase the referrals of terminal patients to PCCS.

The effect of pre-service training on post-graduation skill and knowledge retention among mid-level healthcare providers in Mozambique

BACKGROUND

Mozambique suffers from critical shortages of healthcare workers including non-physician clinicians, Tecnicos de Medicina Geral (TMGs), who are often senior clinicians in rural health centres. The Mozambique Ministry of Health and the International Training and Education Center for Health, University of Washington, Seattle, revised the national curriculum to improve TMG clinical knowledge and skills. To evaluate the effort, data was collected at graduation and 10 months later from pre-revision (initial) and revised curriculum TMGs to determine the following: (1) Did cohorts trained in the revised curriculum score higher on measurements of clinical knowledge, physical exam procedures, and solving clinical case scenarios than those trained in the initial curriculum; (2) Did TMGs in both curricula retain their knowledge over time (from baseline to follow-up); and (3) Did skills and knowledge retention differ over time by curricula? Post-graduation and over time results are presented.

METHODS

t-tests examine differences in scores between curriculum groups. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models assess curriculum-related, demographic, and workplace factors associated with scores on each of three evaluation methods at the p < 0.05 level. Paired t-tests examine within-group changes over time. ANOVA models explore differences between Health Training Institutes (HTIs). Generalized estimating equations determine whether change in scores over time differed by curricula.

RESULTS

Mean scores of initial curriculum TMGs at follow-up were 52.7%, 62.6%, and 40.0% on the clinical cases, knowledge test, and physical exam, respectively. Averages were significantly higher among the revised group for clinical cases (60.2%; p < 0.001) and physical exam (47.6%; p < 0.001). HTI was influential on clinical case and physical exam scores. Between graduation and follow-up, clinical case and physical exam scores decreased significantly for initial curriculum students; clinical case scores increased significantly among revised curriculum TMGs.

CONCLUSIONS

Although curriculum revision had limited effect, marginal improvements in the revised group show promise that these TMGs may have increased ability to synthesize clinical information. Weaknesses in curriculum and practicum implementation likely compromised the effect of curriculum revision. An improvement strategy that includes strengthened TMG training, greater attention to pre-service clinical practice, and post-graduation mentoring may be more advantageous than curriculum revision, alone, to improve care provided by TMGs.