Michael A. Turton

Developing Online Continuing Education Content for Enhancing Caring Among Taiwan Nurses

BACKGROUND To promote the quality of nursing care, a hospital in Taiwan committed to implementing its SHARE framework for clinical practice. This study was conducted to develop caring content for the SHARE framework in the form of online continuing education videos. METHODS Five focus group interviews were conducted with 19 exemplary nurses. A constant comparative method was used to extract caring themes that were integrated into the five components of SHARE: S: Sense patients needs; H: Help patient out; A: Acknowledge patients feelings; R: Respect patients dignity and privacy; E: Explain what is happening. RESULTS Concrete caring behaviors consistent with SHARE were identified. Real-world scenarios were used to produce five videos demonstrating the components of SHARE for use in online caring education. CONCLUSION This project offers a new strategy for strengthening caring behavior in nurse-patient interactions and may help to establish a model for caring in nursing continuing education in Taiwan.

Validation of self-directed learning instrument and establishment of normative data for nursing students in taiwan: using polytomous item response theory.

Background: Little research has investigated the establishment of norms for nursing students’ self-directed learning (SDL) ability, recognized as an important capability for professional nurses. An item response theory (IRT) approach was used to establish norms for SDL abilities valid for the different nursing programs in Taiwan. Purposes: The purposes of this study were (a) to use IRT with a graded response model to reexamine the SDL instrument, or the SDLI, originally developed by this research team using confirmatory factor analysis and (b) to establish SDL ability norms for the four different nursing education programs in Taiwan. Methods: Stratified random sampling with probability proportional to size was used. A minimum of 15% of students from the four different nursing education degree programs across Taiwan was selected. A total of 7,879 nursing students from 13 schools were recruited. The research instrument was the 20-item SDLI developed by Cheng, Kuo, Lin, and Lee-Hsieh (2010). IRT with the graded response model was used with a two-parameter logistic model (discrimination and difficulty) for the data analysis, calculated using MULTILOG. Norms were established using percentile rank. Results: Analysis of item information and test information functions revealed that 18 items exhibited very high discrimination and two items had high discrimination. The test information function was higher in this range of scores, indicating greater precision in the estimate of nursing student SDL. Reliability fell between .80 and .94 for each domain and the SDLI as a whole. The total information function shows that the SDLI is appropriate for all nursing students, except for the top 2.5%. SDL ability norms were established for each nursing education program and for the nation as a whole. Conclusions: IRT is shown to be a potent and useful methodology for scale evaluation. The norms for SDL established in this research will provide practical standards for nursing educators and students in Taiwan.