<p> This study investigated the use of deliberate practice theory as a technique to improve hand hygiene performance (HHP) of first-semester associate degree nursing program students. Proper HHP at specific intervals during patient care prevents the spread of healthcare-associated infections. HHP consistently falls below industry expectations and this gap exists worldwide. Modifying established HHP behaviors of professionals in the health care setting is resource intensive, yet novice health care professionals such as nursing students are uniquely positioned to acquire optimal hand hygiene habits as they enter professional practice. The research question for this study was as follows: Is there a performance difference between a group of nursing students using a routine practice approach and a group using deliberate practice theory as a technique for the task of hand hygiene in the nursing skills laboratory setting? The research design was a multiple-measures pretest/posttest nonrandomized quasi-experimental design using a convenience sample. The target population was prelicensure first-semester associate degree nursing students in the United States and a sample of 47 nursing students was obtained from an intact cohort of first-semester associate degree nursing students. The method of data analysis was an independent-samples <i> t</i> test to determine if a statistically significant performance difference existed between the control and experimental groups. The experimental group using deliberate practice theory as a technique for HHP had higher performance scores (<i>M</i> = 97.10, <i>SD</i> = 9.60) than the control group using a routine approach (<i>M</i> = 91.67, <i>SD</i> = 14.74); however, it was not statistically significant, with <i>t</i>(39.73) = –1.503, <i>p</i> = .141. An additional analysis was conducted to determine hand hygiene compliance rates. The control group dropped 4.16% for hand hygiene compliance from the pretest to the posttest whereas the experimental group dropped only 0.72%. The most impressive findings from this alternative examination of the findings is that the control group had two (8.33%) of its participants with one hand hygiene omission during the pretest and the experimental group had one (4.35%). For the posttest, the control group had six (25%) of its participants with one hand hygiene omission and the experimental group had two (8.69%). The number of individuals in the experimental group with hand hygiene omissions doubled from the pretest to the posttest whereas the number of individuals with hand hygiene omissions tripled for the control group. This additional analysis indicates that deliberate practice theory as a technique to improve HHP may have important clinical implications.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:13807184 |
| Date | 27 March 2019 |
| Creators | Chapman, Velinda Jo |
| Publisher | Capella University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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