The Effect of Educational Program for National Certification Test for Professional Caregiver on Trainees on Geriatric Nursing Self-Efficacy, Geriatric Nursing Practice, Achievement, Dementia Attitude

Abstract

This is one group pretest-posttest study to investigate the effect of educational program for professional caregiver on the trainees' geriatric nursing self-efficacy, performance range of geriatric nursing, learning achievement, and dementia attitude. The subjects were 43 trainees enrolled in caregiver education center of K University located in Gyeonggi-do. The instruments used in this study were Inventory Geriatric Nursing Self-Efficacy(IGNSE) for geriatric nursing self-efficacy, an instrument developed by Cho (2002) for geriatric nursing practice, and self-developed theory and practice test of academic achievement. The attitude toward dementia was measured using knowledge, stabilization, and total score of the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS). The behavior toward elderly was measured using a evaluation tool developed by Won (2004). The designated textbook for education of caregiver, revised in 2019, was used as a textbook, and a total of 240 hours were allocated where 80 hours were allocated to theory, practice, and work experience, respectively. The education of theory and practice were performed for eight weeks, four hours a day, five days a week, and those for work experience was two weeks, eight hours a day, five days a week. Data were collected from March 1, 2019 to December 30, 2019, and pre- and post-test were performed. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, and paired-t test. The results showed that IGNSE, geriatric nursing practice, and behavior toward elderly improved slightly, but the difference was not statistically significant (t=-1.01, p=.319; t=-.78, p=. 438; t=-10.03, p=.0131; t=-.281, p=.780, respectively). Academic achievements of theory and practice improved statistically (t=-10.03, p=.0131; t=-5.14, p<.001, respectively). The DAS stabilization scale score and total score improved statistically (t=-2.58, p<.001, t=-2.79, p=.008, respectively). The DAS knowledge scale improved slightly, but the difference was not statistically significant (t=-1.07, p=.293). These results showed that the educational program for national certification test for professional caregiver is useful for obtaining national certification and improving dementia attitude. It is necessary, however, to modify and supplement appropriately curriculum to effectiveness of the program in improving self-efficacy, knowledge, and behavior necessary for elderly nursing. In addition, replication studies with larger random samples are necessary to confirm the findings obtained from this study.