title: Use of Iliad to improve diagnostic performance of nurse practitioner students.
abstract: Nurse practitioners (NPs) have dual goals as primary care providers, combining the traditional goals of nursing with extended goals as diagnosticians. Diagnostic reasoning, therefore, is a critical component of NP education. Iliad, a computerized diagnostic reasoning expert system, has been used effectively to teach diagnostic skills to medical students. A pilot study was undertaken to determine the effects of Iliad training on NP students' diagnostic skill performance and to identify technical and instructional issues of implementation. The study found that the use of Iliad improved NP students' diagnostic reasoning, and that the training effects were modified by prior nursing experience. Successful use of Iliad required planning, faculty commitment, and technical support.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Informatics Program, College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84103, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Haak
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lincoln
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Foerster
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nilasena
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reeves
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D005103:Expert Systems; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects