The effect of an e-learning course on nursing staff's knowledge of delirium: a before-and-after study.

Lotte Van De Steeg,Maaike Langelaan,Cordula Wagner,Roelie Ijkema

doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0289-2

Abstract

BackgroundDelirium is a common condition in hospitalized patients, associated with adverse outcomes such as longer hospital stay, functional decline and higher mortality, as well as higher rates of nursing home placement. Nurses often fail to recognize delirium in hospitalized patients, which might be due to a lack of knowledge of delirium diagnosis and treatment. The objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of an e-learning course on nurses’ delirium knowledge, describe nursing staff’s baseline knowledge about delirium, and describe demographic factors associated with baseline delirium knowledge and the effectiveness of the e-learning course.MethodsA before-and-after study design, using an e-learning course on delirium. The course was introduced to all nursing staff of internal medicine and surgical wards of 17 Dutch hospitals.Results1,196 invitations for the e-learning course were sent to nursing staff, which included nurses, nursing students and healthcare assistants. Test scores on the final knowledge test (mean 87.4, 95% CI 86.7 to 88.2) were significantly higher than those on baseline (mean 79.3, 95% CI 78.5 to 80.1). At baseline, nursing staff had the most difficulty with questions related to the definition of delirium: what are its symptoms, course, consequences and which patients are at risk. The mean score for this category was 74.3 (95% CI 73.1 to 75.5).ConclusionsThe e-learning course significantly improved nursing staff's knowledge of delirium in all subgroups of participants and for all question categories. Contrary to other studies, the baseline knowledge assessment showed that, overall, nursing staff was relatively knowledgeable regarding delirium.Trial registrationThe Netherlands National Trial Register (NTR). Trial number: NTR 2885, 19 April 2011.

Highlights

Introduction iIntroduction to the e-learning course, the patients from the case studies and the subjectII
In this study we investigated the effect of an e-learning course, based on nationally recommended guidelines for delirium [23,24], on nurses’ delirium knowledge
In this study we investigated the effect of e-learning on specific aspects of delirium knowledge in nursing staff in hospitals in the Netherlands

Summary

Introduction

Introduction iIntroduction to the e-learning course, the patients from the case studies and the subjectII. Delirium is a common condition in hospitalized patients, associated with adverse outcomes such as longer hospital stay, functional decline and higher mortality, as well as higher rates of nursing home placement. Delirium is a common condition in hospitalized people, with the highest incidence rates reported in intensive-care, palliative care and postoperative care settings [1,2,3,4]. It is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by a disturbance of consciousness and attention, as well as a change in cognition or a disturbance of perception [5,6]. Hare et al [15], for example, assessed nurses’ level of knowledge using a questionnaire including questions on delirium and its associated risk factors. Other recent studies examined the effect of an educational intervention on nurses’ knowledge of delirium van de Steeg et al BMC Medical Education (2015) 15:12

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