Effect of an instructional programme on attitudes of registered nurses towards nursing care plans

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an instructional programme on registered nurses' attitudes towards nursing care plans and to compare these attitudes with registered nurses who did not take part in the instructional programme. A sample of 36 randomly selected registered nurses "A" working full time in two hospitals in Tanzania, completed questionnaires on nurses' attitudes towards nursing care plans (pretest, posttest I and posttest II). The experimental group received an instructional programme on nursing process and nursing care plans before posttest I. The participants' attitudes were measured by means of the "Nursing Care Planning Rating Scale" modified by Thomas (1984). Results indicated that all participants had overall positive attitudes towards nursing care plans. There was evidence that the instructional programme had an effect on attitudes towards care planning however, it was not significant at the Q<.05 level. There was no significant difference between the participants in relation to age, educational background, year of graduation and number of years of practice. Nursing educators and nursing administrators can use these findings in formulating a more constructive and practical instructional programme on nursing process and nursing care planning.