Investigation of the effectiveness of continuous education given with internet-mediated communication to nurses on central venous catheter care management

This research was carried out between May 21th and October 20th 2018 at Ege University Medical Faculty Hospital Department of Internal Diseases Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit in order to increase the knowledge level of nurses about CVCs which are frequently used cancer patients by providing awareness of the nurses. The aim of the research is to ensure continuity of education through internet mediated communication applications (WhatsApp and e-mail). In the research, training was given to the nurses in relation to evidence-based nursing care management practices in CVCs. Educational content are composed of topics from hand hygiene and aseptic technique, maximal sterile barrier precautions, recommended skin antiseptics, scrub to the catheter hub, evaluation and dressing of the catheter entry site, drawing blood and blood cultures from the catheter, catheter locking or flushing and the frequency of change of infusion sets. In the first phase of the research, a general education was given to all nurses. The contents of general education were sent to the e-mail addresses of the nurses. In the second phase, smart phones are used as the indispensable facilities of the modern time in order to support the efficiency and applicability of the training. In this context, the continuous training materials are shared with the nurses who had smart phones with internet access and agreed to participate in the study thanks to the social network (WhatsApp). In the research, pre-test and post-test were applied to nurses. The effectiveness of the continuous education practices given to the nurses was evaluated by clinical CLABSI rate surveillance data. In the research findings, it was seen that nurses had knowledge about CVCs in general. Before and after the training of the nurses; a statistically significant difference was found in the questions asked about hand hygiene, wearing mask, recommended skin antiseptics, scrub to the catheter hub, drawing blood cultures from the catheter, catheter locking or flushing and the frequency of change of infusion sets. On the other hand, it was determined that continuous training given through internet-mediated communication (WhatsApp and e-mail) did not affect CLABSI rate alone considering the other factors affecting CLABSI rate. In the research, the educational model given by internet-mediated communication (WhatsApp and e-mail) unlike traditional educational practices. It is thought that this model of education contributes to the nurses to provide information in a fast and easy way and to ensure the continuity of in-service training thanks to the form of mobile learning which is popular in the field of education in recent years. Therefore, it is recommended that such an educational approach be developed in the area of health communication. Key words: Central venous catheter; adult hematology; nurse; education