University of Pittsburgh School of NurisngUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Nurisng
Dr. Lisa Bernardo, Dr. Kristie Abt, Dr. Catherine Bender, and Dr. Dianxu Ren are inviting you to participate in our research study we are conducting with grant money received by the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation. The title of our study is: Exercise Knowledge and Practice in Oncology Nurses: The Effect of a Continuing Education Program on Oncology Nurses’ Knowledge of and Confidence in Recommending Exercise to Women with Breast Cancer. The purpose of our pilot study is to measure changes in Oncology nurses’ knowledge of and confidence in recommending exercise to women with breast cancer before and after an on-line continuing education program on exercise theory and practice for women with this disease. Your participation in this research study will help us to: 1) measure the effects of an on-line continuing education program for Oncology nurses who care for women with breast cancer, using pre- and post-test scores; 2) evaluate the effectiveness of on-line continuing education as a learning modality, and 3) evaluate Oncology nurses’ confidence in recommending exercise to women with breast cancer, as measured by changes in their confidence scores before, immediately after and 6-months after completing the on-line continuing education program. This study has been approved by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board (IRB#0610134).
You are eligible to participate in our study if you: 1) have an active email account and internet capabilities to access pre- and post-tests, Confidence Surveys and online continuing education program; and 2) read, write and understand English. Our goal is to enroll 330 Oncology nurses of both genders over an 18-month period.
Our continuing education program is only for oncology nurses who agree to participate in this study. There are three education modules, and it will take you no more than 4 hours to complete the modules, tests, surveys and evaluations. You will earn contact hours through the PA State Nurses Association, an accredited provider of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Your Survey responses will be anonymous. We will retain your name and email for awarding of continuing education contact hours only. We cannot link your name to your Demographic Data and Confidence Surveys. At 6 months after completion of the last module, we will email you a link to the final Confidence Survey and post-test.
There is no charge to you for participating in this research study. The education program, including the continuing education contact hour awards, is available to you at no cost, outside of the electricity to run the computer and Internet service. The benefits to participating in this study are: 1) you may gain new knowledge about exercise in women with breast cancer; and 2) you may gain confidence in recommending exercise to women with breast cancer. Knowledge gained from this study may help us to learn if on-line education is a useful method to provide continuing education to Oncology nurses. Risks to participating are a breach of confidentiality and anonymity. Ways that we minimize these risks are to have separate databases for contact hour reporting and study data collection.
Your participation in this research study is completely voluntary. You may stop viewing the modules at any time. You may omit any questions on the tests or surveys that make you uncomfortable, however to receive continuing education contact hours, you must score an 80% or higher on the post-tests. You can re-take the tests until you achieve 80%.
Clicking on the “I AGREE TO PARTICIPATE” button at the end of this document signifies that you agree to participate in our study. If you choose not to participate, your decision will not affect any current or future dealings with the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
Should you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, please contact the Human Subjects Protection Office at 1-866-212-2668. Please contact me with any questions or concerns at 412 624-7637 or LBE100@pitt.edu
Sincerely,
Lisa Marie Bernardo, PhD, MPH, RN, HFI
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing
415 Victoria Building
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Phone: 412-624-7637
LBE100@pitt.edu