An evaluation of an online education programme to improve nurses' ability to support carers to use subcutaneous medicines.

BACKGROUND: Most Australians say they wish to die at home, but many are admitted to inpatient facilities for symptom management. Caring@home resources can be used to support informal carers to manage breakthrough symptoms safely using subcutaneous medicines. Nurses require education about how to teach informal carers to use these resources.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of an online education programme for registered nurses (RNs) about using the caring@home resources.

METHODS: Nurses must complete an online survey prior to the commencement of the online education programme and again upon completion to assess their change in skills, knowledge, confidence and attitudes of the RNs. T-tests were conducted to compare average pre- and post-education scores.

FINDINGS: The knowledge, skills and confidence of RNs to teach carers improved significantly following the completion of an education programme. There was a significant change in attitude, meaning that the perceived benefit of teaching informal carers to give subcutaneous medicines improved. All reported they would use the resources in their clinical practice.

CONCLUSION: The online education programme is an effective and cost-efficient strategy to educate nurses to support informal carers to help manage breakthrough symptoms using subcutaneous medicines.