The effect of a continuing education program on the performance of hemodialysis nurses and their patient outcomes.

Abstract

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208 p.

Research and literature indicate that some continuing professional education (CPE) programs result in improved performance and patient outcomes while others fail to do so. Most of the investigators focused on the CPE program as a unitary variable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a CPE program, professional performance and patient outcomes using the Cervero/Rao model. Forty-two hemodialysis nurses attended a workshop entitled "Treating the Patient Experiencing Hypotension During Dialysis."Specifically, four research questions were asked: To what extent are CPE program, nature of the proposed change, individual nurse characteristics, social system, and nurse performance interrelated? To what extent are nurse performance, individual patient characteristics, and patient outcomes interrelated? What is the effect of the CPE program, the individual nurse characteristics, the nature of the proposed change, and the social system on nurse performance? What is the effect of nurse performance and individual patient characteristics on patient outcomes?Two specially constructed instruments were developed to measure the independent variables. Nurse performance and patient outcomes were measured using a chart audit. Eight-four patients participated in the study.Three independent variables, years employed in nursing, nature of the proposed change, and the CPE program, were related to nurse performance and explained 19.5% of the variance (p $<$.05). With the patient as the unit of analysis, three variables emerged as significant to the patient outcomes. Age and years on hemodialysis explained 16% (p $<$.001) of the variance in blood pressure. Sources of information about health care explained 11% (p $<$.001) of the variance in weight. Statistically significant interrelationships were demonstrated between many of the independent variables for both the nurse and patient participants.