The efficacy of two teaching methods on nurse’s knowledge regarding hepatic encephalopathy

Continuing education for professional nurses is essential for effective nursing care. The rapid changes taking place within healthcare systems have increased the pressure on nurses to engage in continuing education programs. Continuing education improves knowledge base, skill level, change behaviors, attitudes and improve clinical outcomes which have an important role in staff development. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of two teaching methods on nurse’s knowledge regarding hepatic encephalopathy. The study was conducted at medical Intensive Care Unit at Tanta University Hospital. It included 60 critical care nurses working in the previously mentioned setting and they were divided into two groups randomly and alternatively, 30 nurses in each group. Two tools were used in the study for data collection, tool 1: nurses’ knowledge structured questionnaire sheet. It was divided into two parts: part A: nurse’s socio demographic assessment sheet. Part B: nurse’s knowledge assessment sheet, tool II: Nurse’s satisfaction evaluation questionnaire sheet. The main results of this study were; more than half of nurses (53.3%) in the traditional lecture teaching group had poor knowledge level about hepatic encephalopathy in the pre-test compared with less than half (40%) of the nurses in the web-based teaching group. On the other hand about three quarter (73.3%) of nurses in traditional lecture teaching groups had good knowledge compared with less than half (40% )in the web-based teaching group after completing the courses. Also the result revealed that more half (56.7%) of nurses in traditional lecture teaching group had high level of satisfaction regarding teaching method compared to one third (33.3 %) of nurses in web based teaching group. The study recommended that in-services training program should be done continuously for updating nurse’s knowledge and practices regarding hepatic encephalopathy using traditional lecture method and teaching.