S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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positive change strongly in all responses at benchmark and follow-up; there was no explanation as to how, or if, the open-ended answers were analysed with only a short discussion. Chang et al. (2002) is the only article that details the research and development of course content utilising a pre-course ‘needs analysis’ questionnaire, focus groups and explanation of why topics were included. There were 303 nursing participants who undertook the course with 67% ( n = 202) evaluating the training. While training was delivered regionally within only one state and recruitment was uneven (90% rural; 10% remote) results were summarised by region. The results were consistently positive across all regions. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the course was undertaken using a validated questionnaire mailed out to participants with a good response rate ( n = 303/202; 67%). An independent consultant was engaged to ensure impartiality and reduce bias. The results were statistically significantly positive. The majority of open-ended answers were positive with a strong theme reported of bias towards training on the practical application of skills as opposed to theory. Both Mellor et al. (2012) and Kennedy et al. (2013) reported on evaluations related to the same course. Mellor et al. (2012) reported that voluntary nursing participants from two states were randomised and checked to reduce cross-contamination. Data collection was undertaken using a Likert scale-based questionnaire. There are results from pre, post and three-month follow-up questionnaires. Each of the tools were checked for internal validity and test-retest reliability and Cronbach’s Alpha. Mellor et al. (2012) undertakes the most extensive quantitative analysis in using SPSS to conduct separate repeated measure multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests. These calculations quantify