Effects of a motivational program on staff nurses' perceptions of the importance of updating knowledge in a West Indonesian context

Abstract

The problem adressed in this study was that many staff nurses fail to keep updated on nursing knowledge and skills. The purpose guidinq this study was to determine the effects of a motivational program on attitude toward updating of knowledge in nursing care by staff nurses.

This study used a quasi-experimental, pretest- posttest design with an experimental group of 38 staff nurses and a control group of 22 nurses in two different hospitals under the same management. The instrument contained a demographic section, Scale A, Availability of Facilitles (12 items) and scale B, Work practices (17 items). Subjects rated each scale attribute on a 5-point Likert scale for agreement, 1 (very unimportant) to 5 (very important).

Three research questions had to do with equivalency of the two groups on demographic variables, and Availability of Facilities Scale and Work Practices Scale B before the intervention, and comparisons of experimental and control groups on the posttest and changes of mean ratings from time one to time two.

Descriptive statistics used were frequencies, means, and standard deviations. The five hypothesis were tested using z test, sign test, and chi square. Probability was set at the .01 level.

This study was based on achievement motivation theory, cognitive dissonance theory, expectation theory, and force field change theory.

Findings of this study were that there were significant differences in perceptions of the importance of updating activities of nurses between the experimental and control groups at the post intervention time. The groups were equivalent in demographic chracteristics except for the nurses in the experimental group having significantly more nursing experience.

Major conclusion of this study was that the motivatlonal program has a strong influence on the nurses' perception of the importance of updating skills and knowledge in nursing.

Major recommendations were that (a) a motivational program should be implemented and continued for all levels of nurses on importance of updating skills and knowledge; (b) a research should be done to determine to what extent quality of nursing care is associated with updating of skills and knowledge; (c) nursing information (magazines, books, brochures, and courses) should be readilly available to nurses in the hospital and regularly updated; and (d) nurses should be placed in positions accordinq to their skills in order to develop interest in improving job performance.