The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a school nurse focused e-Learning application to improve their diabetes device knowledge and confidence. School nurses will be asked to complete pre-/post-surveys around a 16-week curriculum.
The standard of care for pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and automated insulin delivery (AID) systems to optimize glycemia. These diabetes technologies hold the potential to decrease the risk of acute and long-term complications. Yet, the rapid developments over the last decade have posed challenges for youth, caregivers, and healthcare professionals who must learn to use these devices. Use of these devices requires significant user interaction and remains labor-intensive, leading to variability in glycemic outcomes. Schools offer a unique opportunity to support these vulnerable populations. Youth with T1D spend nearly one third of their weekdays in school under the care of school nurses. School nurses have expressed a critical gap in their knowledge of T1D devices, which can negatively affect parent and student school experiences. To date, little to no research has explored interventions to support school nurses with T1D devices. Structured education may directly impact school nurse CGM and AID knowledge and confidence and student outcomes. e-Learning, defined as the delivery of education through digital resources, allows for flexible, asynchronous learning at a self-determined pace. App-based CGM and AID education stimulates active, problem-centered learning that improves the knowledge and confidence of endocrinology trainees. This study will adapt an existing diabetes technology e-Learning tool to meet the needs of school nurses. In earlier phases focus groups and user-centered design methods are used to adapt the TeKnO T1D curriculum. The TeKnO T1D: School app content will be pilot tested with school nurses in Pennsylvania to assess feasibility. The curriculum will be delivered to 36 school nurses over 16 weeks according to principles of spaced learning, which has been shown to optimize knowledge retention. Simultaneously, methods to collect health and school outcomes from the students of participating school nurses will be explored.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
86
The TeKnO T1D: School Intervention will be an e-Learning CGM and AID curriculum developed for nurses and delivered entirely through 20-25 multiple-choice questions developed from case-based scenarios reflecting real-world, school-based T1D management. After answering each question, participants receive immediate access to the correct answer, a comparison of their answer choice with that of their peers, and a detailed explanation of the correct answer choice. Participants receive 2 questions every 3 days. Based on educational principles and forgetting curves, which assess declines in memory retention over time, questions answered incorrectly are repeated in 7 days and those answered correctly in 13 days.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Study Enrollment
The percentage of eligible participants (school nurses) who consent to participate among those approached.
Time frame: Baseline
Curriculum completion
The percentage of enrolled participants who complete the TeKnO T1D: School curriculum
Time frame: Primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)
Retention
The percent of enrolled participants who complete all study procedures.
Time frame: Primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)
Feasibility of Intervention Measure
Feasibility will be measured using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure. This scale includes 4 items on a 1-5 Likert-type response scale with higher scores indicating greater feasibility. The scale score is an average of the 4 items (range 1-5). There are no subscales.
Time frame: Primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)
Acceptability
Acceptability will be measured using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure. This scale includes 4 items on a 1-5 Likert-type response scale with higher scores indicating greater acceptability. The scale score is an average of the 4 items (range 1-5). There are no subscales.
Time frame: Primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)
Appropriateness
Appropriateness will be measured using the Intervention Appropriateness Measure. This scale includes 4 items on a 1-5 Likert-type response scale with higher scores indicating greater appropriateness. The scale score is an average of the 4 items (range 1-5). There are no subscales.
Time frame: Primary endpoint (completion 16 week curriculum)
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Device knowledge
Diabetes device knowledge will be assessed with a modified version of the Knowledge Assessment of T1D (KAT-1), a validated 112 item instrument. The instrument includes multiple choice questions. The KAT-1 score will be tabulated as the percent correct, ranging from 0-100%.
Time frame: Baseline and primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)
Diabetes device confidence
This will be measured with the Diabetes Device Confidence Scale (DDCS), a 25-item validated scale. Items are scored on a 1-5 Likert-type response scale from 1=not at all confident to 5=extremely confident. The DDCS is scored as a sum of all items with scores ranging from 25-125, with higher scores indicating greater confidence. There are no sub-scales.
Time frame: Baseline and primary endpoint (completion of 16 week curriculum)