title: Delirium knowledge and recognition: a randomized controlled trial of a web-based educational intervention for acute care nurses.
abstract: Delirium is a significant problem for older hospitalized people and is associated with poor outcomes. It is poorly recognized and evidence suggests that a major reason is lack of education. Nurses, who are educated about delirium, can play a significant role in improving delirium recognition. This study evaluated the impact of a delirium specific educational website. A cluster randomized controlled trial, with a pretest/post-test time series design, was conducted to measure delirium knowledge (DK) and delirium recognition (DR) over three time-points. Statistically significant differences were found between the intervention and non-intervention group. The intervention groups' DK scores were higher and the change over time results were statistically significant [T3 and T1 (t=3.78 p=<0.001) and T2 and T1 baseline (t=5.83 p=<0.001)]. Statistically significant improvements were also seen for DR when comparing T2 and T1 results (t=2.56 p=0.011) between both groups but not for changes in DR scores between T3 and T1 (t=1.80 p=0.074). Participants rated the website highly on the visual, functional and content elements. This study supports the concept that web-based delirium learning is an effective and satisfying method of information delivery for registered nurses. Future research is required to investigate clinical outcomes as a result of this web-based education.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4059, Australia. Electronic address: judymcr@bigpond.com.
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCrow
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Counseling, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4059, Australia. Electronic address: karen.sullivan@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4059, Australia. Electronic address: elizabeth.beattie@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Beattie
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing*; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009726:Nurses; D011793:Queensland
keywords: Delirium; Delirium superimposed on dementia; Nursing; Web-based learning