Abstract

Hybrid delivery model is an evolving method in nursing education used to achieve the maximum learning outcomes among practicing nurses. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the hybrid educational intervention in improving skills of nurses on cancer palliative care (CPC). A quasi-experimental study was conducted on nurses selected from two tertiary care hospitals in Sri Lanka. Hybrid Delivery Model (HDM) on CPC was delivered over eight weeks to a systematically selected nurses in the intervention (N=38). Self-reported palliative care skills (SRPCS) of both groups were measured as overall and 6 sub-variables of PC with a validated questionnaire and compared. Observed PC skills were received from nursing managers of the wards to verify the self-reported PC skills of the participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Mean age of participants in intervention group was 32±6.3 years and that of control group was 31±4.8 years. Mean duration of working in an oncology unit of intervention group and control group was 29±24.7 months and 26 (±16.6) months respectively. Pre-intervention overall SRPCS between intervention (x =10.95 ±7.51) and control group (x =18.62 ± 6.03) (P?0.001) were showed that the control group was better at the baseline. However both groups were similar in the context of required level of knowledge. Post intervention (at 12th weeks), a significant improvement of overall SRPCS (x =62.58 ± 9.83) vs (x =25.16 ± 4.89) (P?0.0001) with a 7.9-fold difference in improvement over control and in all sub-variables except pain management and ethical issues in PC was seen in intervention group when compared to the control group. The observation of nursing managers of respective wards was similar as PC skills performance of the intervention group ( x=78.63±10.36) was greater than that of control group (X=32.28±9.38) at the 12th week follow-up (P?0.0001). The educational intervention on cancer PC delivered through HDM has improved the nurses’ skills on CPC.