Effect of Online Training on Palliative Care Knowledge of Nursing Assistants.

Background

Nursing assistants (NAs) in long-term care facilities contribute to palliative care by assisting with activities of daily living and comfort care. There is a gap in evaluated palliative care trainings for NAs.

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of online training on knowledge of psychosocial aspects of palliative care among NAs.

Design

We used a wait-listed randomized two-group pretest-posttest design. The training was developed based on literature review and needs assessment. All participants completed a baseline evaluation. The intervention group took a posttest on palliative care knowledge upon completing an eight-module palliative care training, with the control group just completing the assessments. Setting/Subjects: NAs (n = 102) from six long-term care facilities in the United States were in the intervention (n = 51) and a control group (n = 51). The retention rate was 90% at the posttest, with 46 NAs in each group (n = 92). Measurements: We measured palliative care knowledge using 50 questions (scored 0-100) at baseline and posttest. The questions were developed to measure how well the participants understood the training content.

Results

Palliative care knowledge significantly increased in the intervention group only (mean score 4.1 points, p < 0.05). The posttest score of the intervention group was significantly greater than that of the control group (mean score 6.5 points, p < 0.005). The effect size of the difference in posttest scores between two study groups was medium (Glass's Δ 0.60).

Conclusion

The results indicate the effectiveness of online training in improving NAs' knowledge of psychosocial aspects of palliative care.