Validation of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Knowledge Assessment Test

Abstract

v The need for improved nursing knowledge about end-of-life care is well documented; however, efficient measures to evaluate knowledge attainment from end-of-life training programs are lacking. The authors tested a 50-item version of an original 109-item knowledge assessment tool developed by the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium. Items with highest item-to-total correlations were selected to represent each of the nine domains in the original instrument. One hundred forty-one graduate and undergraduate nursing students pretested the shorter version. Thirty graduate students also completed the original version. Item analysis, equivalence, and internal consistency estimates were conducted to evaluate the validity of the 50-item version. Scores on the 109-item and 50-item versions were highly correlated (r = 0.92), and the total scale internal consistency estimate for the 50-item version surpassed the 0.80 standard (Kudar Richardson [KR] 20 = 0.84). Item difficulty and discrimination indices suggest that the revised version should discern knowledge attainment across varied achievement levels. Pretest scores were well below the 80% target for mastery among graduate students in practice and support the ongoing need for end-of-life education. The results support the utility of the shorter version to assess baseline end-of-life knowledge. Further testing is needed to demonstrate its usefulness in end-of-life program evaluation.

Pediatrics Palliative Care and Ethical Consideration From Nursing and PharmD Perspectives: A Study in Jordan

“…Notably, the study also revealed poor knowledge in the psychosocial and spiritual care dimension of palliative care (14). Studies have reported that insu cient information of nursing students in spirituality in relation to health and spiritual nursing care in PPC (24,25) Current results showed that there a signi cant difference in palliative between nursing and PharmD students (t=1.969, p=.050). The PharmD students had higher knowledge score toward PPC.…”

A Comparison of Educational Approaches to the End-of-Life-Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Course

“…End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium test. The abbreviated 25-question, quantitative ELNEC examination (Appendix XX) was used for pre/post evaluation and was derived from the validated 106-question ELNEC-Knowledge Assessment Test (Lange et al, 2009;Appendix XX). The original test was comprised of nine modules that are considered significant areas for EOL care (Shea, Grossman, Wallace, & Lange, 2010).…”

“…The ELNEC-Critical Care curriculum is intended for nurses in intensive care units and emergency departments (AACN, 2012). The ELNEC course uses the validated ELNEC-Knowledge Assessment Test as an assessment tool (Lange, Shea, Grossman, Wallace, & Ferrell, 2009). Nurses who attend an ELNEC course are expected to become change agents in their specialty area (Sherman et al, 2005).…”

Effectiveness of a perinatal and pediatric End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) curricula integration

“…The study principal investigator (EO), adapted the instrument from a published knowledge assessment tool (ELNEC-KAT) (Lange et al, 2009) to specifically focus on the care of children with life-threatening conditions and their families (e.g., an item referring to a 48-year-old was modified to refer to a 12-year-old). Six subject matter experts (all ELNEC trainers) reviewed the revised test for content validity, confirming its appropriateness for evaluating knowledge of pediatric and perinatal palliative and end-of-life care education.…”