Page 53 - HA Convention 2016 [Abstracts (Day 1)]

Service Enhancement Presentations HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2016

F2.1 Staff Engagement and Empowerment 10:45 Room 421

To Engage Ward Nurses in Providing Bedside Education: A Pilot Project for Patients Admitted for Hypoglycaemia
Cheng MWW 1, Kan CYE 1, Tam SKG 2, Yeung SY 3
1Medicine Department, 2Accident and Emergency Department, 3Central Nursing Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Hong Kong

Introduction

Patient education is one of the nurses’ roles in empowering people to maintain health. However, nurses are often not able to
devote much time to educate patients in an extremely busy ward. According to the Adult Learning Principles, people learn
more effectively from their immediate experience. Providing hypoglycaemia education to patients admitted for hypoglycaemia
capitalises on patients’ immediate experience and readiness to learn, and is hypothesised to be effective. A project was
designed to engage ward nurses to provide hypoglycaemia education in an Accident and Emergency Department (AED)
ward.

Objectives Tuesday, 3 May

(1) To increase ward nurses’ competence and confidence in providing hypoglycaemia education; (2) to increase ward nurses’
involvement in educating patients; (3) to evaluate the effectiveness of hypoglycaemia education provided by ward nurses.

Methodology

Two 2.5-hour training sessions, focused on delivering knowledge on diabetes medications, hypoglycaemia management and
prevention, insulin injection, and use of educational materials were conducted by the Diabetes Nurse Consultant (DMNC) to
10 nurses from AED ward and Central Nursing Division (CND). Educational pamphlets were provided to facilitate teaching. An
education record sheet was designed to guide education and documentation. Continuous support by DMNC and three face-
to-face group meetings were provided. After discharge, two telephone follow-ups were made by nurses in CND at Day two to
four and Day 28 to 30 for collecting patients’ feedback and reinforcement education.

Results

All participating nurses had significant improvement in their confidence, competence and willingness to participate in bedside
hypoglycaemia education after training. Mean score of an eight-item Satisfaction Survey was 3.3 out of 4. 309 patients
in total with a mean age of 74.8 years (25 to 91) and 56% female were recruited between April 2014 and March 2015. 180
patients responded to the post-programme evaluation and all were very satisfied with the education provided (satisfaction
survey mean score 8.35 out of 10). This project concludes that ward nurses are able to provide hypoglycaemia education to
patients despite the busy ward routines. With relevant training, clearly identified area for assessment and education as well
as specialists’ backup, ward nurses can grasp the teachable moment to provide the most timely and useful advice to patients
which can impact life and death choices.

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