AB1420-HPR Rheumatology nursing: An italian experience of e-learning

Background Rheumatology nursing management is a relevant strategic challenge. The recent “EULAR recommendations for the role of the nurse in the management of chronic inflammatory arthritis” indicate specific goals for a wide range of interventions. Thus, an effective educational agenda is urgently needed to support the access to high quality education for nurses. Objectives To determine the response of nurses a web-based e-learning programme. Methods AIR (Assistenza Infermieristica Reumatologica) is an educational website that was created in November 2009 (www.aircommunity.it). It represents the first experience in Italy of a teaching website specifically oriented to rheumatology nurses. The main goal of AIR is to provide useful information on several knowledge domains including the ABC of the rheumatic diseases, counseling, patient education, and risk management. From the November 2011 AIR website also includes an e-learning platform that permits to obtain certified learning credits by a “problem solving” approach. Eight clinical cases highly representative of daily rheumatological practice are included in the project (three cases have already been published). Each case description includes 16 specific questions focused on various clinical nursing problems. To obtain learning credits, all the questions had to be answered. Results The visitors’ number of the website increased from 200 (November 2009) to 13225 (January 2012). The registered users are currently 1450. In spite the website is in Italian, a total of 11.775 pages have been visited by navigators from other European countries and 3.893 navigators from United States. In three months a total of 1019 nurses were involved in the e-learning platform of clinical cases. 628 nurses out of 871 passed the test assessment of the first case; 500 out of 606 nurses passed the test assessment of the second case whereas 352 out of 420 nurses passed the test assessment of the third case. Conclusions The results of our preliminary e-learning experience focused on rheumatology nursing are encouraging. The fast increase of visitors over the last three months indicates a strong interest by nurses to the “problem solving” approach. Disclosure of Interest None Declared