Date Approved

2002

Graduate Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Nursing (M.S.N.)

Degree Program

College of Nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe home health care nurses' knowledge of advance directives. Dorothea Orem's Theory of Self-Care guided this descriptive correlational study which investigated the relationship between knowledge of advance directives and the variables of nursing educational preparation and years of nursing experience. A convenience sample of 40 subjects employed by a Michigan home care agency completed a 39 item questionnaire adapted from Crego and Lipp (1998). The mean knowledge score was 84.68%. Analysis of the demographic profile showed no significant difference in knowledge levels by educational preparation. Years of nursing experience was found to have a weak, negative, non-significant relationship to knowledge of advance directives. Additionally, the majority of subjects had no experience with assisting clients in advance directive formation and did not feel prepared to counsel clients on advance directives.

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