Nurses need education on advance health care directives, reports Journal of Christian Nursing

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Connie Hughes Connie.Hughes@wolterskluwer.com 646-674-6348 Wolters Kluwer Health @WKHealth

September 15, 2014 An educational program for nurses can help address knowledge gaps related to advance health care directives (AHCDs)thus helping to ensure that patients' wishes for care at the end of life are known and respected, reports a paper in the October/December Journal of Christian Nursing, official journal of the http://www.ncf-jcn.org/">Nurses Christian Fellowship. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Maureen Kroning, EdD, RN, of Nyack (N.Y.) College and Good Samaritan Hospital presents her hospital's experience with developing an inservice educational program to provide nurses with needed information on advance directives. She writes, "It is vital to recognize and address problems associated with AHCD so nurses can provide competent and compassionate care."

Program Meets Nurses' Need for Knowledge on Advance Directives

Research shows that, while most adults want their wishes for end-of-life care response, only about one-third have completed AHCDs. Despite the growing need for advance care planning, many health care professionals lack the knowledge to teach patients about advance directives.

At the study hospital, there was a "recognized problem" with AHCD education. On admission, patients were provided with an AHCD information packet and told to ask a nurse if they had any questions. "However," Maureen Kroning writes, "nurses expressed not fully understanding AHCDs, feeling incompetent to educate patients, nor did they believe AHCD education was an important part of their role."

A subsequent survey of 49 nurses found significant deficits in knowledge regarding AHCDs, especially among less-experienced nurses. Nurses "specifically and repeatedly" addressed the need for more AHCD education.

In response, the hospital developed an AHCD inservice education program, specifically addressing the knowledge gaps uncovered by the survey and tailored to the needs of adult learners. The two-hour program included information on AHCDs and living wills, and relevant federal and state laws. In addition to lecture and discussion, the program included role-playing opportunities and questions and answers. The online version of the article includes links to the author's lecture slides and an AHCD patient booklet.