THE EMPLOYMENT OF WARD OPINION LEADERS FOR CONTINUING-EDUCATION IN THE HOSPITAL

Opinion leaders (OLs) are members within a social group with significant social influence over others. A guideline on urinary catheter care was introduced in three groups (A, B and C) of two randomly allocated wards. Two OLs per ward were identified by nurses in groups A and B, using a sociometricic method. For education, inservice lectures for 30% of nurses and OLs tutorials for all nurses were used in group A; OLs tutorials in B, lectures in C and ward nurses were in turn responsible for educating new arrivals of student nurses. Before and after the education programme, the guideline's frequency of practice was assessed by surveying 30% of randomly selected nurses and by direct observation for incorrect practices. A student's quiz on the guideline was also conducted. For all three methods of measurement, the best results were in group A followed by B and C; and the differences for the three groups were significant (p < 0.05). This indicates that continuing education in the hospital can be effectively conducted by the enlistment of ward OLs.