Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consist of a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with lifelong effects. Autism is rising at an alarming rate for unclear reasons. Increasing ASD rates create major concern for nurses in a variety of clinical surroundings and they need to be adequately prepared to interact with and provide care for these special individuals.

Method: The methodology included the use of a nonexperimental, quantitative research design using two different knowledge assessment tools, the Survey of Knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders among Professionals along with the Knowledge about Childhood Autism Among Health Workers (KCAHW), the implementation of an evidence-based educational component and challenging behavior toolkit, concluding with the administration of the same two knowledge assessment tools given at the beginning of the project be being given as a posttest to evaluate if an increase in the knowledge of the nurses surrounding ASD occurs as a result of the intervention.

Results: Overall, the results of this project showed an increase in knowledge of the participants following the interventions, in most areas.

Conclusion: The results of this project, though small, demonstrate the gap in knowledge which nurses have surrounding ASD.

Author Details

Cynthia Queisser, DNP(c), MSN, RN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism and ASD, Autistic Disorder nursing

Advisor

Fairley, JoAnna

Second Advisor

Suttle, Catherine M.

Third Advisor

Hotaling, Cynthia

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Capella University

Degree Year

2016

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2016-11-22

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download

Share

COinS