Nurses' Needs and Priority for Developing Advanced Nursing Education Program in Musculoskeletal Care

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess nurses' educational needs for developing advanced nursing education program for musculoskeletal care. Methods: The participants consisted of 272 clinical nurses who had experience of taking care of patients with musculoskeletal problems. A structured questionnaire with 28 items was used to assess educational needs and priority perceived by clinical nurses. Collected data were analyzed using SPSSWIN V.18.0 program for descriptive statistics. This survey was conducted in accordance with standard ethical guidelines for all research involving human participants. Results: While the majority (93.4%) perceived needs for advanced education program, about half of the participants (48.5%) reported no educational experience about musculoskeletal care. The clinical nurses perceived important for 23 out of 28 areas to be included in advanced nursing education. Especially, the areas of pain management, surgical care, and medication were perceived high priority for education program in caring musculoskeletal patients. Conclusion: The study findings showed that most nurses perceived the need for advanced nursing education program in musculoskeletal care, and the areas with higher priority as perceived by nurses should be reflected in the program.��� ��������� 2011��� ������������������������������ ��������������� ������������ ���������������