Assessing educational effectiveness: the impact of a specialist course on the delivery of care

An exploratory study was undertaken in South Wales to assess the changes in clinical practice brought about by a specialized pharmacology module desig ned for Community Mental Health Nurses (CMHNs), in our institution. The res pondents were the seven CMHNs who completed the course in 1997 and returned to clinical practice, and seven CMHN comparators, matched on the basis of work experience and location. In order to assess the impact of the module, the practice, attitudes and knowledge of the respondents were investigated before and after the course and 6 months later, using semistructured interv iews, nonparticipant observation and questionnaires. The three data sets we re analysed using the constant-comparative method, and relevant themes were identified and refined. While we obtained some objective measures of posit ive educational impact, these should be considered in relation to contextua l and confounding variables. Both reported and observed behaviours indicate d that the main benefit from the course was increased awareness and monitor ing of the side-effects of medication. Respondents had not implemented chan ge uniformly; several factors determined how they modified working practice s, including service pressures and the support of colleagues.