Verification of Infection Control Workshop on “Alternatives and Management of Indwelling Catheters” for Home-visiting Nurses

Abstract

  The 8th session of “Alternatives and Management of Indwelling Catheters” was recently held within the framework of the “Program for Educating Home-Visiting Nurses on Infection Control” (a series scheduled to consist of 12 sessions). A process of analysis and evaluation was carried out to ascertain what the attendees learned during the workshop. The workshop was attended by 20 home-visiting nurses working at 2 visiting nursing stations. The workshop, lasting for one hour, was held on a weekday evening at both stations. The effectiveness of this workshop in facilitating learning was evaluated by analyzing changes in the knowledge/skill level of nurses about 27 items related to alternatives and management of indwelling bladder catheters before the workshop (pre-workshop knowledge/skill level) to that after the workshop (post-workshop knowledge/skill level). The knowledge/skill level was rated on a five-point scale: score 1 (completely incapable) to score 5 (thoroughly capable). The mean score for each item was calculated, and the pre-workshop and the post-workshop mean scores were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Analysis of the score in relation to the background variables of the nurses was carried out using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The mean of the total score for 27 items increased from 3.6 (before workshop) to 4.6 (after workshop). The scores for all individual items increased the after workshop and was statistically significant for 26 items. Analysis of the scores in relation to the background variables of the nurses showed correlations between the pre-workshop score on 10 items and the length of careers as nurses in general, and between the post-workshop score on 2 items and the length of careers as home-visiting nurses. The workshop was useful in improving the knowledge/skill level of the home-visiting nurses about alternatives and management of indwelling bladder catheters. The next step is to review and modify the methods of training on the items with insufficient improvement.