Published in

Elsevier, Nurse Education Today, 6(34), p. 912-917, 2014

DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2013.12.006

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Delirium knowledge and recognition: A randomized controlled trial of a web-based educational intervention for acute care nurses

Journal article published in 2014 by Judy McCrow, Karen A. Sullivan, Elizabeth R. Beattie ORCID
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Delirium is a significant problem for older hospitalized people and is associated with poor outcomes. It is poorly recognized and evidence suggests that a major reason is lack of education. Nurses, who are educated about delirium, can play a significant role in improving delirium recognition. This study evaluated the impact of a delirium specific educational website. A cluster randomized controlled trial, with a pretest/post-test time series design, was conducted to measure delirium knowledge (DK) and delirium recognition (DR) over three time-points. Statistically significant differences were found between the intervention and non-intervention group. The intervention groups' DK scores were higher and the change over time results were statistically significant [T3 and T1 (t = 3.78 p = < 0.001) and T2 and T1 baseline (t = 5.83 p = < 0.001)]. Statistically significant improvements were also seen for DR when comparing T2 and T1 results (t = 2.56 p = 0.011) between both groups but not for changes in DR scores between T3 and T1 (t = 1.80 p = 0.074). Participants rated the website highly on the visual, functional and content elements. This study supports the concept that web-based delirium learning is an effective and satisfying method of information delivery for registered nurses. Future research is required to investigate clinical outcomes as a result of this web-based education.