Effect of an educational guideline on nurses’ performance caring for patients post liver transplantation

Abstract

Background Care of the liver transplant (LT) patients presents the critical care team with one of the more complex and challenging endeavors. Aim This study aims to assess the effect of an educational guideline on nurses’ performance caring for patients post-LT. Design A quasi-experimental design was used. Setting This study was conducted in the critical care unit at Ain Shams Specialized Hospital at Cairo in Egypt. Patients and methods A convenient sample of all available nurses’ (30) caring for patients post-LT in the previously mentioned unit. Data collection tools Nurses’ knowledge self-administered questionnaire sheet and nurses’ practice observational checklist. Results The present study revealed that most of the nurses had got unsatisfactory level of performance (knowledge and practice) regarding caring for patients post-LT in the critical care unit as per the educational guidelines implementation (16.6 and 33.3%, respectively). Meanwhile the majority of the study sample had a statistically significant improvement in their knowledge and practice regarding caring for patients post-LT in the critical care unit after the implementation of the educational guidelines (96.6 and 93.3%, respectively), while this improvement lowered slightly post 3 months at follow-up (90 and 86.6%, respectively). Conclusion This study concluded that the educational guideline for nurses in the critical care unit is effective in improving their performance regarding caring for patients post-LT. Recommendations The importance of conducting periodic in-service training advanced care programs for nurses in critical care units for improving their performance and quality of care that is provided to the patients post-LT.