Stroke Knowledge in an Irish Semi-Rural Community-Dwelling Cohort and Impact of a Brief Education Session.

Poor knowledge of stroke risk factors and failure to recognize and act on acute symptoms hinders efforts to prevent stroke and improve clinical outcomes. Levels of stroke knowledge are poorly established within Ireland. This study was conducted to establish levels of knowledge among men and women aged \u3e40 years in an Irish community, and also to determine the impact of a single education session on stroke knowledge. Subjects from 2 separate geographical locations were allocated to an intervention group (n = 200), who received stroke information over a 90-minute session, or a control group (n = 200). Both groups completed a stroke knowledge questionnaire at baseline and at 4 weeks after the educational session. Overall, the initial response rate was 70% (280/400); 52% of the respondents knew that the brain is affected by stroke, 58% could list 2 or more risk factors but only 27% could list 2 or more warning signs, 50% would call 999 (emergency number in Ireland) in response to stroke, 17% had heard of thrombolytic therapy, but only 1% knew the time frame for receiving thrombolytics. The response rate to the resurvey following the educational session was 57%, with 47 of 117 subjects in the intervention group (40%) attending the session. Stroke knowledge scores improved by 50% in the intervention group (P \u3c .001). Overall, the knowledge of stroke risk factors, warning signs, and thrombolytic therapy was poor in this Irish community-dwelling cohort. Our study demonstrates that a single educational session can improve short-term knowledge of stroke symptoms and thrombolytic therapy

Indicators of Student Satisfaction in Postgraduate Blended Learning Programmes: Key Messages from A Survey Study.

Abstract: This survey reports on an evaluation of student satisfaction after undertaking blended learning postgraduate programmes in a school of nursing and midwifery. There is little data available in Ireland that considers the student experience of online learning in this student cohort. An anonymous pre-validated survey was sent to students after completion of their respective programme of study. Satisfaction with undertaking a programme through blended learning revealed that students are most satisfied with the flexible nature of programme delivery, the communication processes between them and instructors and the overall learning achieved in relation to the development of their personal and professional skills. Students indicated that they are less satisfied with the communication associated with assessment and feedback procedures

Indicators of Student Satisfaction in Postgraduate Blended Learning Programmes: Key Messages from a Survey Study

This survey reports on an evaluation of student satisfaction after undertaking blended learning postgraduate programmes in a school of nursing and midwifery. There is little data available in Ireland that considers the student experience of online learning in this student cohort. An anonymous pre-validated survey was sent to students after completion of their respective programme of study. Satisfaction with undertaking a programme through blended learning revealed that students are most satisfied with the flexible nature of programme delivery, the communication processes between them and instructors and the overall learning achieved in relation to the development of their personal and professional skills. Students indicated that they are less satisfied with the communication associated with assessment and feedback procedures