Table 1 Key characteristics of included studies
Author (year), country | Objective/aim | Study design | Study population and setting | Outcomes | Results | Direction of effecta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trainee (Transfer of knowledge, skills or practice from trainer to trainee) | ||||||
Anderson et al. [37] USA | To implement and evaluate a palliative care professional development program for ICU bedside nurses. | Quasi-experi-mental | 428 nurses 10 ICUs and 5 health centers | Skills: Percentage self-reporting ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ skills on 15 tasks pre- and post- training. | Improved skillsb: Mean percentage change: 35.07, P < 0.01 | Beneficial (skills) |
de Beuers et al. [33] Netherlands | Examine the effect of a TTT intervention and implementation as usual versus only implementation as usual | Cluster RTC | Intervention group: 121 mental health nurses Control group: 51 mental health nurses Psychiatric departments | Knowledge: Mean score on trainees’ self-evaluation of patients’ suicidal behavior (7 items, total score range, 7–35) Practice: Mean percent correct on 125 items on guideline adherence; correct responses to 5 videoclips of interactions between healthcare professionals and suicidal characters (pre- and 3 months post-training, intervention vs. control). | Improved knowledge: Mean difference 2.7 (95% CI: 1.7–3.8, P < 0.001) Improved practice: Mean difference 6.6 (95% CI: 3.2–10.0, P < 0.001) (both outcomes adjusted for department and baseline score) | Beneficial (knowledge) Beneficial (practice) |
Kalisch et al. [13] USA | To test the impact of a TTT intervention on the level of satisfaction with nursing teamwork and the amount of missed nursing care. | Quasi-experi-mental | 242 nurses Inpatient hospital units | Knowledge: Mean number of correct answers (range, 0–15) to knowledge test pre, post and 2 months after training. | Improved knowledge: Mean difference pre/post: 0.51 (95% CI: 0.19; 0.84) 2 months: 0.40 (95% CI: 0.06; 0.74) P = 0.005 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Nyamathi et al. [6] India | To evaluate the effectiveness of a TTT program in enhancing knowledge of prevention, transmission, and treatment of HIV and counseling among nurses in a major government-sponsored medical hospital in Delhi, India. | Quasi-experi-mental | 100 nurses Tertiary-care public hospital | Knowledge: Mean score (range, 0–21) on 21 items testing knowledge pre- and post-training. | Improved knowledge: Pre-training: 12.8 (SD, 4) Post-training: 16.4 (SD, 4.15), P < 0.001 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Ramberg and Wasserman [34] Sweden | To assess whether implementation of suicide preventive activities in psychiatric healthcare clinics by key persons had any effect on the staff’s perception of being sufficiently trained for their work with patients who had attempted suicide, and their perception of clarity in this work. | Quasi-experimental with control group | Intervention group: 103 nurses and nursing assistants Control group: 135 nurses and nursing assistants 11 psychiatric healthcare clinics | Knowledge: Percent of self-ratings of being ‘sufficiently trained’ and perceiving their ‘work made difficult by lacking knowledge’ pre and 1.5 years into the 2-year program. | Improved knowledge ‘Sufficiently trained’ self-ratings among nurses and nursing assistants, pre/post: Intervention group: 52.3/54.5, P = 1.00; 23.7/47.5, P = 0.003 Control group: 45.8/43.8, P = 1.00, 37.2/31.0, P = 0.458 Decreased ‘lack of knowledge’ among nursing assistants, pre/post: Intervention group: 52.5/30.5, P = 0.01 Control group: 54.0/50.6, NS Pre/post between-group difference, P < 0.016 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Rholdon et al. [32] USA | To evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a simulation-learning based training using a TTT model on the acquisition and retention of knowledge about infant safe sleep practices among nursing staff employed at a women’s and children’s hospital located in southwest Louisiana. | Quasi-experi-mental | 74 nurses Specialty women’s and children’s hospital | Knowledge: Mean score on 11-question pre/post knowledge test (KR-20 = 0.60) | Improved knowledge Pre-training: 0.6 Post-training: 0.78 3 months after training: 0.81 P < 0.001 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Warming et al. [35] Denmark | To evaluate the effect of a transfer technique education program alone (TTT) or in combination with physical fitness training compared with a control group following their usual routine. | Cluster RTC | Intervention group: 86 nurses Control group: 51 nurses 11 wards at a university hospital | Knowledge: Mean score (range, n/a) on 4 items about what to do in four situations pre-training and 12 months later. | Increased knowledge, pre/post: Intention-to-treat analysis Interrvention group: 11.45/13.06, NS Control group:10.8/11.91, NS P values not reported Per protocol analysis Intervention group: 11.10/13.33 Control group: 10.78/ 11.90 at 12 months, P = 0.045 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Trainers (transfer of knowledge or skills from master trainer to trainer) | ||||||
Smith et al. [31] USA | Explore the generalizability of a geriatric mental health training program that was used successfully with a culturally homogeneous group of long-term care providers in the rural Midwest USA. | Quasi-experimental with control group | Trainers: 31 nurses Trainees: 92 nurses and nurse aides 14 long-term care facilities Control (direct trainer): 101 nurses and nurse aides 10 long term care facilities | Knowledge: Mean score on 77-item pre/post knowledge test | Increased knowledge, pre/post Intention-to-treat analysis Intervention group: 50.67/51.5, P = 0.51 Control group: 52.6/56.4, P < 0.005 Direct trainer superior to TTT, P < 0.0001 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Carta et al. [38] Country not reported | To report on: • a health education program on patient handling techniques carried out among nurses and healthcare assistants • a TTT program to implement safer patient handling techniques within the framework of a multidisciplinary intervention. | Quasi-experi-mental | 48 nurses Hospital | Knowledge: Mean score (range unclear) on 20-item test pre- and 1 month post-training Skills: Mean score (range, 0–30; three skills scored 0–10) based on observation pre- and 1 month post-training). | Improved knowledge, pre/post: 29.8/33.5, P < 0.05 Improved skills, pre/post: Supine transfer board: 26.5/29.9, P < 0.05 Transfer holding belts: 11.1/27.4, NS Hoist: 25.9/28.8, NS | Beneficial (knowledge) Beneficial (skills) |
Karayurt et al. [36] Turkey | To describe curriculum, development and evaluation of a breast cancer TTT program. | Quasi-experi-mental | 82 nurses Hospitals and community health centers | Knowledge: Mean score (range, 0–100) on 25-item knowledge test pre- and post-training. | Improved knowledge, pre/post: 55.7/80.1, P < 0.001 | Beneficial (knowledge) |
Sinvani et al. [30] USA | To describe and evaluate an innovative multicomponent delirium CAM-ICU champion education and training. program to improve delirium detection by critical care nurses across a large integrated health system. | Quasi-experi-mental | 63 nurses 14 ICUs | Knowledge: Percent of correct completions on five delirium cases on 6-item questionnaire pre- and post-training. | Mean percent of correct completions improved 12.95% on 9 of 30 items (P < 0.05) | Beneficial (knowledge) |