An Endocrine Training Course for Nurse Practitioners in a District Hospital in Eastern Taiwan

10.6145/jme.202103_25(1).0004

Fen-Yu Tseng；Yuh-Shyang Chen；Hui-Chin Wu；Wan-Ting Tsai；Xiang-Yun Wang

nurse practitioners ； continuing education ； endocrine training course ； district hospital ； Eastern Taiwan

Journal of Medical Education

25卷1期（2021 / 03 / 01）

1 - 7

英文

Purpose: Continuing education for nurse practitioners (NPs) is important. To improve the quality of medical care, we developed an endocrine training course for NPs in a district hospital in Eastern Taiwan. Methods: Taitung Christian Hospital is a small district hospital in Eastern Taiwan. An endocrine training course was introduced when a new endocrinologist joined the hospital. The course included six lectures on the following topics: thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, parathyroid, hypoglycemia, and secondary hypertension. Topic-related cases were demonstrated following each lecture. These 1-hour lessons were scheduled once every two weeks. Test 1 was held after lesson 3. Test 2 and a questionnaire survey were conducted after lesson 6. Results: Thirteen NPs attended the endocrine training course. Their average score were 65.83 ± 14.43 and 74.17 ± 15.05 for Test 1 and Test 2, respectively. Based on a 5-point Likert scale, 1 (the least) to 5 (the most), their self-assessed understanding of thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, parathyroid, hypoglycemia, and secondary hypertension improved from 1.92 ± 0.67 to 3.83 ± 0.83, 1.50 ± 0.67 to 3.83 ± 0.94, 1.50 ± 0.67 to 3.67 ± 0.89, 1.50 ± 0.67 to 3.67 ± 0.89, 2.33 ± 0.78 to 4.17 ± 0.72, and 1.92 ± 0.67 to 3.83 ± 0.83 (Wilcoxon Signed-rank test, all p ＜ 0.01), respectively. The majority of participants reported high satisfaction with the content, schedule, case demonstration, and tests. They considered the training course as valuable in enhancing their medical knowledge and improving their clinical competences. Conclusions: The training course improved NPs' understanding of endocrine disorders. Continuing education for NPs is important. To improve the quality of medical care, more training courses in different fields should be developed.

1. Chang, HC,Liu, PY,Ho, KC(2017).Scope of practice for nurse practitioner in Taiwan: 2014 survey.J Taiwan Nurse Pract,3,5-14.
   連結：
2. Hung, TS,Chi, WH(2019).Difficulties and changes of nurse practitioners in clinical practice in Taiwan.J Taiwan Nurse Pract,6,12-21.
   連結：
3. Brommelsiek, M,Peterson, JA(2020).Preparing nurse practitioner students to practice in rural primary care.J Nurs Educ,59(10),581-584.
4. Chiu, HJ,Tsay, SL,Tung, HH(2015).Scope of practice and legislation for nurse practitioners in Taiwan.J Am Assoc Nurse Pract,27(9),497-500.
5. Chiu, HJ,Tsay, SL,Tung, HH(2016).A giant leap in the development of nurse practitioners in Taiwan: From statute to regulation.J Am Assoc Nurse Pract,28(11),622-627.
6. Lin, SS,Chen, SL,Lin, CC(2021).Experiences of scope of practice of the Taiwanese nurse practitioner.J Nurse Pract,17(2),209-213.
7. Mackey, PA,Boyle, ME,Walo, PM(2014).Care directed by a specialty-trained nurse practitioner or physician assistant can overcome clinical inertia in management of inpatient diabetes.Endocr Pract,20(2),112-119.
8. McNamara, S,Giguère, V,St‐Louis, L(2009).Development and implementation of the specialized nurse practitioner role: Use of the PEPPA framework to achieve success.Nurs Health Sci,11(3),318-325.
9. Ministry of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from: https://dep.mohw.gov.tw/donahc/cp-1043-5254-104.html. Accessed 16 March 2021.
10. Ministry of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from: https://dep.mohw.gov.tw/donahc/lp-4348-104.html. Accessed 16 March 2021.
11. Sheen, YJ,Hsu, CC,Jiang, YD(2019).Trends in prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus from 2005 to 2014 in Taiwan.J Formos Med Assoc,118(Suppl 2),S66-S73.
12. Taiwan Association of Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved from: http://www.tnpa.org.tw/papers/papers_detail2.asp?id=192. Accessed 16 March 2021.
13. Tsay, SL,Tsay, SF,Ke, CY(2019).Analysis of nurse practitioner scope of practice in Taiwan using the longest policy cycle model.J Am Assoc Nurse Pract,31(3),198-205.
14. Wu, WC,Su, DH,Chiu, WY(2021).Status of endocrinology and metabolism specialists in Taiwan.J Formos Med Assoc,120(1),588-593.

1. 顏宏旗,賴鈺婷,陳瑞仁(2022)。基於自然語言處理與知識本體技術建構核醫醫學教育機器人。健康科技期刊，9(1)，1-11。