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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter March 24, 2023

Improving practicing nurses’ knowledge of the cognitive impairment, continence, and mobility needs of older people

  • Sherry Dahlke ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Jeffrey I. Butler ORCID logo , Kathleen F. Hunter ORCID logo , Joanna Law , Lori Schindel Martin ORCID logo and Matthew Pietrosanu

Abstract

Objectives

To test if two e-learning modules – one on cognitive impairment, and one on continence and mobility – in older people would improve the knowledge of nurse members from the Canadian Gerontological Nurses Association and College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta.

Methods

A pre-post-test design was used to test 88 nurses’ knowledge of cognitive impairment and 105 nurses’ knowledge of continence and mobility and their perceptions of how the modules contributed to their learning.

Results

There was a statistically significant increase in practicing nurses’ knowledge about cognitive impairment (0.68 increase), continence (2.30 increase), and its relationship to mobility. Nurses’ self-report on the feedback survey demonstrated increases in knowledge, confidence, and perceptions about older people.

Conclusion

These results suggest the modules have strong potential to enhance practicing nurses’ knowledge about cognitive impairment, continence, and mobility.


Corresponding author: Sherry Dahlke, PhD, RN, GNC(C), Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T69 1C9, Canada, E-mail:

Award Identifier / Grant number: Award# 430-2018-00014

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support of the Canadian Gerontological Association and the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta in aiding in recruitment.

  1. Research funding: This work was supported by an Insight development grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [Award# 430-2018-00014].

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: The Research Ethics Board at the University of Alberta Approved this study Approval number 00110795.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2022-0130).


Received: 2022-12-13
Accepted: 2023-03-03
Published Online: 2023-03-24

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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