Osteoporosis affects ten million adults in the U.S. and causes more than 1.5 million fractures annually. Nurses are ideal sources for identifying those at risk, teaching preventative measures, and participating in the treatment of osteoporosis. However, nurses must first have adequate knowledge of the disease. This is the first known study to test the effectiveness of a printed self-study on improving nurses' knowledge of osteoporosis. Ninety-four LPNs and RNs(mean years of age 43.9, SD=11.5; mean years in nursing 17.82, SD=11.5) from 3 rural and 1 metropolitan health care facilities and 1 Air Force Hospital in Japan volunteered for this pre-test/post-test, no control group study. Seventy-eight nurses completed post-testing 4 weeks after studying at home the self-study "Strong & Sure: Focus on Osteoporosis" (Meehan et al., 2002). Participants completed a Demographic and Nursing Profile, a 20 item lay oriented "Facts on Osteoporosis Quiz" (Ailinger & Lasus, 2001), and a 20 item forced choice professional test. There was significant improvement on both the lay oriented post-test (t=-5.29;df=77;p<.001)and the professional post-test (t=-14.75;df=77;p<.001). Further analysis of professional knowledge in subgroups revealed that nurses who preferred independent learning improved significantly more than those who preferred the classroom setting (t=-2.11;df=73;p=.039);nurses who had not had bone density testing (n=62) improved more than those (n=16) who had completed testing (t=-2.05;df=76;p=.044), and, older nurses (>or=43 yrs;n=39) improved more than the younger ones (t=-2.0;df76;p=.049). Findings are discussed in relation to Benner's Novice to Expert theory. Results indicate that printed self-study materials improve nurses' osteoporosis knowledge, especially in those who preferred this style of learning, did not have direct knowledge of their own bone status, and were near or at the peri-menopausal stage of life.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)