Nurses Education: Learning Needs and Gap Analysis

📄 Words:	1659
📝 Subject:	Nursing
📑 Pages:	7
📚 Topics:	Infection

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Education sessions for nurses who work with patients who have central lines about the necessity to prevent infections can effectively reduce the rate of central line infections in three months. In the current project, the evaluation of learning needs and the existing research gaps is developed. Nurses should have a chance to improve their knowledge and study from the best experts in the field (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018; Dumyati et al., 2014). Their awareness of guidelines and standards for following hand hygiene and aseptic techniques plays an important role in predicting infections in patients (Burnett, 2018; Dumyati et al., 2014; Myatra, 2019). However, poor nurse engagement, ineffective leadership, and various options for nurses create additional barriers to understanding nurses’ roles and participating in educational programs (Ha et al., 2019; Owings et al., 2018). Therefore, it is important to find facilitators to ensure that nurses successfully pass all the sessions and prepare to cooperate with patients and colleagues to prevent infections and exchange experiences.

Main body

SMART Goal	Learning Needs of Stakeholders Based Upon Practice Gap	Gap Analysis	Barriers to Meeting Goal # 1	Facilitators to Meeting Goal # 1
GOAL 1: In a period of three months, 100% of full-time nurses who work with hospitalized patients with central lines complete an education session about central line infection prevention.	Nurses are aware of the importance of preventing central line infections (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018). The staff’s attention should be caught by real-life examples and the worth of education, in this case, should be demonstrated in their continuous education.	There is an identified gap in the frequency of nurse education about the level of interventions aimed to prevent central line infection (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018). Current State: Current nurses’ compliance with central line infections is uncertain, with the mean compliance scores of 14.2±4.7 (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018).	Nurse-patient ratio can become a significant barrier in this case (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018). Nurses have a number of responsibilities and obligations in relation to patients in their care units.	There should be a clear plan of how to organize nurses’ activities Education is a critical aspect in improving nurses’ knowledge and skills for working with patients.
	Nurses need to apply for an education program with two sessions a week.	Desired State: Nurses participate in an education program and increase their compliance, not at the expense of their everyday practice.	The 1:1 nurse-patient ratio is characterized by positive education results (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018).	Nurses have sufficient time to education and patients respectfully.
	Staff education and understanding of the benefits of sustainable training improve care quality and professionalism level (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018). They key techniques that should be transferred to nurses are proper hand washing, sterilization methods, the basic use of ventilator-associated equipment.	Practice Gap: The combination of previous education and current academic opportunities helps reduce the infection rate (Aloush & Alsaraireh, 2018).	Nurses should have enough time and space to complete their tasks, cooperate with patients, and continue education.	The staff is interested in learning new techniques and approaches to prevent infections and improve care quality.
SMART Goal	Learning Needs of Stakeholders Based Upon Practice Gap	Gap Analysis	Barriers to Meeting Goal # 2	Facilitators to Meeting Goal # 2
GOAL 2: IN A PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS, 100% OF FULL-TIME NURSES are managed by professional leaders and demonstrate increased engagement in all nursing activities that affect the quality of care offered to patients with central lines.	Nurses who work with patients who have central lines should demonstrate improved engagement in all their activities and follow the recommendations offered by their direct leaders (Burnett, 2018; Dumyati et al., 2014; Owings et al., 2018). Only some healthcare organizations are involved in promoting nurse engagement with prevention and control activities (Burnett, 2018). Nurses do not have enough leaders to manage their activities properly (Owings et al., 2018). There is a gap in the ability to take care of specific patients with unusual problems due to lack of leadership education.	There is an identified gap in engaging nurses with most of their activities that could affect the quality of care (Dumyati et al., 2014). Current State: The team shows poor engagement with leaders, physicians, and other frontline staff (Dumyati et al., 2014). Leaders understand their high-level responsibilities in treating patients and cooperating with nurses with poor or limited knowledge and practice (Owings et al., 2018).	To be properly engaged in their activities, nurses should work with efficient leaders who implement standardized practices (Burnett, 2018). The engagement of nurses is challenged by poorly identified care vision of leaders and skills in nurses (Burnett, 2018; Owings et al., 2018).	Brief but regular meetings for leaders and nurses are organized to discuss the current problems, existing concerns, and offered solutions. Nursing leadership encourages initiatives’ dissemination in most hospital units (Dumyati et al., 2014; Owings et al., 2018).
	Organizational aspects of care for patients with central lines are taken into consideration from leaders’, physicians’, and nurses’ perspectives (Dumyati et al., 2014). Leadership is becoming one of the key skills that every nurse should obtain (Owings et al., 2018). Nursing schools are introducing more teaching programs to increase the confidence of nurses and make them more engaged in the treating processes.	Desired State: A sustained reduction of central line infections is observed through the engagement and education of nurses on effective infection prevention (Dumyati et al., 2014). Leaders understand that their support to registered nurses plays a crucial role in improving care quality and infection prevention (Owings et al., 2018).	Nurses cooperate with leaders who share their knowledge and improve healthcare skills in a multidisciplinary team (Burnett, 2018). In nursing leadership, the distribution of roles is not as effective as it can be (Owings et al., 2018).	Nurse engagement is promoted within the properly identified boundaries: clinical assessments, patient treatment, and time management (Burnett, 2018).
	The implementation of education programs will encourage nurses to cooperate with experienced leaders (Burnett, 2018; Owings et al., 2018). Every week professional nurses and doctors will educate young specialists to stay disciplined and share with diverse phrases that can inspire patients and make nurses more influential. Informative classes will be conducted twice a week during two months, and special paper guidelines will help nurses to store and apply received information.	Practice Gap: Nurses need to have a chance to ask questions and discuss their problems or concerns with a profession not to lose their interest in practice engagement (Dumyati et al., 2014).	Not all nurses clearly understand their roles and the worth of engagement because of poor knowledge and ineffective leadership (Burnett, 2018).	A culture of clinical excellence for communication is established if leaders and nurses participate fairly in all discussions.

SMART Goal	Learning Needs of Stakeholders Based Upon Practice Gap	Gap Analysis	Barriers to Meeting Goal # 3	Facilitators to Meeting Goal # 3
GOAL 3: For a period of one week, all nursing staff pass tests on high compliance with infection prevention guidelines. For instance, the use of personal equipment, hygene, environmental cleaning, patients’ care.	There is a gap in care practice due to the lack of education and low level of attention to such aspects as hand hygiene and disinfection. Nurses should demonstrate a high level of confidence and desire to follow prescribed guidelines (Ha et al., 2019). The nurses will be educated to carry out a basic patients’ care like making bed, cleaning rooms using antibacterial products. This is a basic knowledge to provide patients with primary needs when they stay in the hospital. The program will teach nurses to stay a helpful connector between patients and doctor.	Compliance with prevention guidelines is higher in doctors than in nurses (Myatra, 2019). Current State: A perceived lack of knowledge and poor confidence continue challenging the nursing staff in completing their functions and maintaining education and practice (Ha et al., 2019).	There is a list of nurses’ responsibilities, and following antimicrobial stewardship activities is hardly included (Ha et al., 2019). Nurses do not get a solid understanding of the connection between central line infections, hand hygiene, aseptic techniques, and dressing changes (Dumyati et al., 2014; Myatra, 2019).	Incorporating bedside nurses into clinical decision-making is a free and easy-to-follow recommendation (Ha et al., 2019). The application of clinical assessment skills can be strengthened and improved through the prism of coordination and cooperation at different levels.
	Regardless of their experience and duties, all nurses follow the standards of hand hygiene, regular dressing changes, antimicrobial stewardship, and other infection-related preventive techniques (Dumyati et al., 2014; Ha et al., 2019; Myatra, 2019).	Desired State: All nurses understand and follow guidelines, demonstrating their compliance in education and cooperation, which leads to the possibility of reducing infection rates in patients with central lines.	Many organizations present a list of guidelines to be followed for preventing infections in patients with central lines (Myatra, 2019).	The creation of a single standardized guideline with activities for all nurses who work in particular units after a thorough examination of achievements and findings in the field (Ha et al., 2019).
	Nurses are aware of multiple infection-preventing activities and services to help patients with central lines (Ha et al., 2019).	Practice Gap: A standardized approach is a proven evidence-based practice for nurses to follow and predict the growth of infections in at least 30% of cases (Ha et al., 2019).	A variety of opinions and experiences in nursing care without specific attention to infection prediction.	Nurses communicate and discuss what they have learned and what approach is more effective in achieving the desired goal of infection control.

Conclusion

This analysis helps understand why nurses must be involved in new education programs, what barriers and facilitators exist in the context, and what aspects of nursing care should be improved. The increase in infections among patients with central lines is hard to ignore, and many hospitals are interested in improving the current rates. Nurses should have good leaders to complete their functions and roles. Finally, creating a single standardized guideline for preventing central line infections can be the major facilitator in addressing the gaps in nursing education and engagement.

References

Aloush, S., & Alsaraireh, F. (2018). Nurses’ compliance with central line associated blood stream infection prevention guidelines: observational study. Saudi Medical Journal, 39(3), 273–279.

Burnett, E. (2018). Effective infection prevention and control: The nurse’s role. Nursing Standard, 33(4), 68–72.

Dumyati, G., Concannon, C., van Wijngaarden, E., Love, T. M. T., Graman, P., Pettis, A. M., Greene, L., El-Daher, N., Farnsworth, D., Quinlan, G., Karr, G., Ward, L., Knab, R., & Shelly, M. (2014). Sustained reduction of central line–associated bloodstream infections outside the intensive care unit with a multimodal intervention focusing on central line maintenance. American Journal of Infection Control, 42(7), 723–730.

Ha, D. R., Forte, M. B., Olans, R. D., Oolong, K., Olans, R. N., Gluckstein, D. P., Kullar, R., Desai, M., Catipon, N., Ancheta, V., Lira, D., Khattak, Y., Legge, J., Nguyen, K. B., Chan, S., Mourani, J., & McKinnell, J. A. (2019). A Multidisciplinary approach to incorporate bedside nurses into antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 45(9), 600–605.

Myatra, S. N. (2019). Improving hand hygiene practices to reduce CLABSI rates: Nurses education integral for success. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine: Peer-Reviewed, Official Publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, 23(7), 291–293.

Owings, A., Graves, J., Johnson, S., Gilliam, C., Gipson, M., & Hakim, H. (2018). Leadership line care rounds: Application of the engage, educate, execute, and evaluate improvement model for the prevention of central line–associated bloodstream infections in children with cancer. American Journal of Infection Control, 46(2), 229–231.

Introduction

Main body

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References

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