Dermatology nurses can add to a dermatology consultation and provide effective patient education and support in managing a skin condition. With this added service nurses could help to free up dermatologists' time, thus allowing them to see more new patients. Cost-effectiveness studies are now needed.
Design:To date, no validated assessment measures exist to identify the education and support needs of patients living with long-term dermatological conditions and to enable them to self-manage as effectively as possible. The PeDeSI assessment tool was developed to meet this need using the self-efficacy construct and a model of concordance within prescribing practice. In total, 200 copies of the PeDeSI were distributed for validation, and 145 (72.5%) were returned completed. Data were analyzed using statistical software. Frequency distributions of all items were examined, and internal consistency was summarized using Cronbach ␣. Exploratory factor analysis was used to disclose any underlying structure among the data items.Setting: Three specialist dermatology centers in acute care hospitals.Participants: Dermatology specialist nurses treating patients with chronic dermatoses.Intervention: A PeDeSI was completed with each patient during his or her usual outpatient consultation.Main Outcome Measure: Cronbach ␣.Results: Cronbach ␣ was 0.90, indicating good internal consistency. Eliminating individual items in turn made little difference in Cronbach ␣ (range, 0.89-0.90). Item total correlations ranged from 0.44 to 0.76 (median, 0.68). Exploratory factor analysis extracted just one factor (eigenvalue, 5.37), with no other factors having eigenvalues exceeding 1.00. Factor loadings on individual items ranged from 0.47 to 0.80. Conclusion:The PeDeSI is a valid, reliable, and clinically practical tool to systematically assess the education and support needs of patients with long-term dermatological conditions and to promote treatment concordance.
Patients with psoriasis may be psychologically vulnerable and suffer social isolation as a result of physical disfigurement. It is important that nurses are able to assess the psychological needs of patients and, where necessary, facilitate the development of positive coping strategies. Staff and patients in the dermatology department at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, set up a support group to try to address these issues. One year on, an evaluation of the efficacy of the group has shown that such gatherings are essential to the psychological wellbeing of individuals with skin complaints.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.