Effect of the Fever Education Program on Pediatric Nurses' Expert Knowledge, Attitudes and Nursing Practice

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was performed to develop the Fever Education Program (FEP) and evaluate its effects on the knowledge, attitudes, and nursing practice of pediatric nurses. METHODS: The quasi-experimental research strategy used a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. Recruited participants were forty-seven nurses at two pediatric hospitals in G city. The research was conducted from September 1 to October 10, 2015. To test the effects of the FEP, the participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group (n=27) and a control group (n=20). Data were collected prior to and six weeks after the intervention using self-reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test, the χ²-test, t–test, Mann-Whitney U test, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with the SPSS/WIN 19.0 program. RESULTS: Following the FEP intervention, no significant differences were found in nursing practice, but significant differences were found in knowledge (t=3.62, p=0.001) and attitudes (t=4.26, p=0.000) between the experimental group and the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the FEP could provide an effective nursing intervention to improve knowledge and attitudes toward fever care in pediatric nurses.