| Summary |
The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether a programmed instruction would increase development of self-care knowledge specific to tuberculosis infection among adult military personnel, dependents, and civilian co-workers. Demographically, the subjects (N=20) were ethnically mixed. primarily male (80%), and predominantly on active duty status (90%). The study was conceptualized within Orem's Self-Care Theory of Nursing. A pre- and posttest design with experimental and control groups was used with Shearer's Pretest/Posttest for TB Knowledge as the measure of self-care knowledge. Experimental group subjects (n=10) were pretested and participated in a programmed instruction followed by usual clinic teaching; posttesting was administered the day following instruction. Control group subjects (n=10) were tested on a schedule identical to that of the experimental group, but participated in usual clinic teaching without the programmed instruction. Mean gain scores were calculated for each of the two groups and an independent t-test was used for comparison. The experimental group's TB knowledge gain score was higher than the control group's; however, this difference was not statistically significant (p>.05). Therefore, the hypothesis that newly diagnosed adult converters on Isoniazid chemoprophylaxis who completed a programmed instruction on tuberculosis infection would show greater TB knowledge than newly diagnosed adult converters who did not have the programmed instruction was not supported. However, a significant gain in TB knowledge was evident for both the control and the experimental groups from pretest to posttest (p>.05). Therefore, the hypothesis that newly diagnosed adult converters on Isoniazid chemoprophylaxis who completed a programmed instruction on tuberculosis infection would show greater TB knowledge than newly diagnosed adult converters who did not have the programmed instruction was not supported. However, a significant gain in TB knowledge was evident for both the control and the experimental groups from pretest to posttest (p < .05). An additional finding was that a pretest essentially became a treatment and demonstrated effectiveness in guiding clients to seek appropriate self-care knowledge. The findings of this study have contributed to nursing knowledge regarding self-care education for clients and validate the need for nurses to continue to develop skills relating to patient education. |
