title: Effect of an educational intervention on nursing staff knowledge, confidence, and practice in the care of children with mild traumatic brain injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurses are key providers in the care of children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). New treatment recommendations emphasize symptom assessment and brain rest guidelines to optimize recovery. This study compared pediatric trauma core nurses' knowledge, degree of confidence, and perceived change in practice following mTBI education.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight trauma core nurses were invited to participate in this voluntary quasiexperimental, one-group pretest-posttest study. Multiple choice questions were developed to assess knowledge, and self-report Likert scale statements were used to evaluate confidence and change in practice. Baseline data of 25 trauma core nurses were assessed and then reassessed 1 month postintervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Paired samples analysis showed significant improvement in knowledge (mean pretest: 33.6% vs. mean posttest score: 79.2%; 95% CI [35.6, 55.6]; t = 9.368; p < .001). All but two test questions yielded a significant increase in the number of participants with correct responses. Preintervention confidence was low (0-32% per question) and significantly increased postintervention (26%-84% per question). Despite increased administration of the symptom assessment and identification of interventions for symptom resolution posteducation (χ(2)6.125, p = .001), these scores remained low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings demonstrate that educational intervention effectively increased trauma core nurses' knowledge and confidence in applying content into practice. Postintervention scores did not uniformly increase, and not all trauma core nurses consistently transferred content into practice. Further research is recommended to evaluate which teaching method and curriculum content are most effective to educate trauma core nurses and registered nurses caring for patients with mTBI and to identify barriers to incorporating this knowledge in practice.
authors: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA. becky.cook@cchmc.org
authors: Rebecca S
authors: RS
authors: Cook
authors: Gordon L
authors: GL
authors: Gillespie
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Kronk
authors: Margot C
authors: MC
authors: Daugherty
authors: Suzanne M
authors: SM
authors: Moody
authors: Lesley J
authors: LJ
authors: Allen
authors: Kaaren B
authors: KB
authors: Shebesta
authors: Richard A
authors: RA
authors: Falcone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000451:nursing*; D002648:Child; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014193:Trauma Centers; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices