title: Kangaroo Care Education Effects on Nurses' Knowledge and Skills Confidence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Less than 20% of the 996 NICUs in the United States routinely practice kangaroo care, due in part to the inadequate knowledge and skills confidence of nurses. Continuing education improves knowledge and skills acquisition, but the effects of a kangaroo care certification course on nurses' knowledge and skills confidence are unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pretest-posttest quasi-experiment was conducted. The Kangaroo Care Knowledge and Skills Confidence Tool was administered to 68 RNs at a 2.5-day course about kangaroo care evidence and skills. Measures of central tendency, dispersion, and paired t tests were conducted on 57 questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nurses' characteristics were varied. The mean posttest Knowledge score (M = 88.54, SD = 6.13) was significantly higher than the pretest score (M = 78.7, SD = 8.30), t [54] = -9.1, p = .000), as was the posttest Skills Confidence score (pretest M = 32.06, SD = 3.49; posttest M = 26.80, SD = 5.22), t [53] = -8.459, p = .000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The nurses' knowledge and skills confidence of kangaroo care improved following continuing education, suggesting a need for continuing education in this area. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(11):518-524.
authors: Wedad Matar
authors: WM
authors: Almutairi
authors: Susan M
authors: SM
authors: Ludington-Hoe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods; D060127:Kangaroo-Mother Care Method / Q000458:organization & administration; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D007231:Infant, Newborn