Development and Evaluation of an Educational Program on Legal Issue-focused Nursing Records

법적 관점의 간호기록 작성방법에 대한 교육프로그램 개발과 효과

Purpose: This study aimed to develop an educational program on nursing records especially focused on legal issues, and to test the effects of the educational program on nurses' knowledge, performance, and behavior. Methods: A textbook on legal issue-focused nursing records and an instrument with 36 items rated on a 5-point scale (1-5) for measuring the nurses' charting-related performance and behavior were developed from November 2007 through March 2008. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was employed to test the effects of the education program. Knowledge was self-reported by the Nurse Charting Knowledge Scale, while performance and behavior were measured by their nurse managers. The pretest and posttest were conducted from March through May in 2008. A total of 226 Korean nurses participated in this study. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, Chi-square, paired t-test, Spearman's coefficient, and multiple regression. Results: Nurses who received the intervention showed greater levels of knowledge (t=10.28, p<.001), performance (t=2.53, p=.013), and behavior scores (t=3.07, p=.002) than those of the control group. The factors influencing the improvement of knowledge were 'job attitude' (t=-3.32, p=.001) and 'career in present unit' (t=2.95, p=.004). The factor influencing the improvement of performance was 'career in present unit' (t=-3.39, p=.001). The factor influencing the improvement of behavior was 'job attitude' (t=-3.46, p=.001). Conclusion: The educational program on legal issue-focused nursing records was effective in improving nurse charting-related knowledge, performance, and behavior.