Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DNP

College

School of Nursing

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Heidi Putman-Casdorph.

Abstract

Background: There has been little published about nursing care on an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU). Patients with epileptic and non-epileptic events require close monitoring and thorough assessments. In addition, it is especially important that these patients are provided a safe environment.;Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a structured educational program for nurses on an EMU in the assessment of patients with clinical events by quantitatively measuring nursing assessments before and after the program.;Objectives: There were two objectives for this project. The first objective was to measure nurses' assessments of patients on the EMU in a quantifiable form. The second objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program on the scores on the Nursing Assessment Rating Scale.;Design: The study used a before and after design to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program on nurse assessment ratings. Nurses on the EMU attended one multi-modal educational session consisting of reinforcement of existing protocols and didactic lectures one of which used case-based scenarios with interactive participation.;Subjects: Twenty-Five nurses working on the EMU participated in the study.;Results: Nurses' assessments were quantified using a criterion based rating scale with seven primary quality indicators. The indicators were characterized as Superior (3 points), Good (2 points), Satisfactory (1 point) and Unsatisfactory (0 points). Prior to the education, the mean scores on the rating scale were 14.5 points (SD 2.1). Post education, there was a statistical difference in scores 16. (SD1.6) (p<.01).;Conclusions: Three primary conclusions were reache. First, the Nurse Assessment Rating Scale was able to transform a qualitative measure of nursing assessment into a quantitative indicator that could be compared pre-and post-education. By assigning a numeric value to the rating of superior, good, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory, a quantitative score was compared to ascertain whether the education did improve scores. Second, the data indicated that the education significantly improved the assessment scores. With education, the original protocols were reinforced and assessments became more consistent resulting in improved scores. Third using a multimodal education format targeted aspects of performance such as respect and compassion.

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