A PILOT EVALUATION OF A NURSING IN-SERVICE PROGRAM FOR NURSES INVOLVED IN DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENT EDUCATION.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 262
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study set out to evaluate the efficacy of a four-hour nursing in-service program on the patient education skills of nurses on their diabetic patients. The study evaluated the questions: (1) Does a four-hour in-service program increase the cognitive competence of nurses on patient education skills? and (2) Do patients with nurses who received an in-service program on patient education skills demonstrate better satisfaction than those patients with nurses who did not receive such an in-service program?.

The study used a review of literature and a two-round Delphi Technique to arrive at a final curriculum for the in-service program. Five sets of measures were developed to collect the data: (1) subjects' profile questionnaire, (2) written pre-post evaluation instrument, (3) nurse's patient teaching performance checklist, (4) patient satisfaction questionnaire, and (5) in-service program evaluation questionnaire. The study used two randomized comparison groups of staff nurses and the corresponding patient-recipients of their diabetes patient education. Frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation and t value were used to analyze the data. A level of significance was established at.05.

The results showed no significant difference in the written pre-post evaluation scores, nurse's patient teaching performance checklist scores, and patient satisfaction questionnaire for both comparison groups. The results attributed three possible sources of weakness in the study: failure in theory, program implementation and program measurements. Specifically, the constraints of the study were the small sample size, ineffective program schedule and the measuring instrument's failure to differentiate program effects.

The in-service program received favorable ratings from the experimental group in meeting the needs of nurses in diabetes patient education. It seems from the viewpoint of the nurses, as revealed by the questionnaire, that the most empowering source of patient teaching skills is that of more knowledge about diabetes mellitus and its management than knowledge of the teaching-learning principles. Practical suggestions to improve the in-service program included identifying the proper time and length of presentation to overcome the many pressures during work hours. Recipients of the diabetes patient instructions suggested that this type of patient education should be continued and initiated at the time when patients are admitted in the hospital.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-07, Section: B, page: 1939.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1987.

School code: 0055.