Nursing Awareness Program

The nursing awareness program consists of a network of nurses from across Canada committed to promoting excellence in nursing practice for Canadian patients with primary immunodeficiency.

Background

To acquire knowledge about the education needs of nurses in community hospitals, a pilot Nursing PID Education program was conducted in April 2005 by Brenda Reid, RN, MN (a Clinical Nurse Specialist within the Department of Nursing at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto).

Twenty nurses, all of whom were experienced infusion nurses working in PID outpatient clinics in Ottawa, attended the pilot, which consisted of a needs assessment of learning requirements followed by a lecture and focus group.

The results of the needs assessment showed that while all of the nurses worked with PID patients regularly, 50% of the nurses ranked themselves as having little or no knowledge about PID, drug therapies for PID, dosing of IGIV and outcomes of treatment. Furthermore, only 57% of the nurses responding ranked themselves as knowledgeable about managing side effects of IGIV, despite the respondents being experienced infusion nurses.

Comments received in the evaluation of the pilot program gave insights into the critical importance of increased PID knowledge by nurses in community hospitals. Of the 15 nurses who completed the questionnaire, many expressed that they had a new appreciation for the complexity of PID diseases, that the learning would enhance their practice, and that they appreciated the opportunity to network with other nurses caring for similar patients. The nurses felt that access to Canadian specific online information about PID diseases and management would be helpful. They expressed concern that they lacked time in the practice setting to access accurate information to address patient questions and concerns. They felt that access to Canadian-specific online information about PID diseases and treatment would be very helpful.

Nursing Awareness Lectures

Quinte Chapter of Canadian Infusion Nurses—June 2006
Kelowna General Hospital videoconference—July 2006
Canadian Infusion Nurses Annual Meeting—October 2006

For more information or to enquire about joining contact: nursing@cisociety.com

Resources for Nurses