This study assesses the continuing education needs of social caseworkers employed by the Community Care for the Aged, Blind and Disabled Program Division of the Texas State Department of Human Resources. A model by which needs assessments and discrepancy evaluation can be conducted was identified. The study was designed to answer three major questions. These were (1) What are the behavioral competencies critical to the effective practice of C.C.A.B.D. social casework within the Texas State Department of Human Resources? (2) What are the current continuing education needs of C.C.A.B.D. caseworkers with respect to these competencies? (3) What significant discrepancies exist as to the perception of these needs among caseworkers, supervisors, and administrators that hold implications for continuing education program planning. The needs assessment model developed in this study is designed to overcome many of the limitations of traditional approaches to needs assessment by defining critical job requirements from the perspective of current practice as well as administrative policy, establishing a profile of the successful worker as a model for staff development, and integrating the perceptions of administrators, supervisors, and workers in identifying continuing education needs.

One of the outgrowths of legislation enacted during the 1960's has been the deinstitutionalization of mentally retarded persons and the retention of others within the community. This study addressed the problem of nurses' perception of their competency to deal with this population wherever they might be encountered within community health care settings. The first hypothesis looked for differences in perceived competency based on the level of basic nursing education. Since sample sizes were not equal, the Kruskal Wallis test was utilized and a significant difference at the .001 alpha level was found. Hypothesis two looked for a relationship between perceived competency and degree of clinical contact with a mentally retarded population provided by the basic nursing preparation. Hypotheses three through six looked for relationships between perceived competency and adequacy of samples of content related to mental retardation provided by the basic nursing education: (1) risk factors; (2) etiology; (3) skills and techniques; (4) support systems. Hypothesis seven looked at the relationship between perception of competency and the adequacy of continuing education offerings to which nurses have been exposed. Hypothesis eight looked for a relationship between perceived competency and sustained personal contact with a mentally retarded person. A Pearson product moment …

The problem of the study was to determine the relationship between teaching methods and attainment of knowledge and skill performance of nurse aides in rural area nursing homes. The purpose of this study was to determine the improvement in skills performance and knowledge gain in the population cited above. The skill to be learned was operation of an electronic thermometer. The analysis of variance used on the pretest for written performance showed a significant difference at the .01 level; however, the analysis of covariance done on the posttest results showed no significant difference, indicating that the initial difference was of no consequence to the results obtained on the posttests. The paired comparison t test of the group means obtained from written tests showed that the programmed instruction group was superior to either the control or teacher-taught groups at the .001 level. Overall the programmed instruction tool was more effective in teaching skill and learning of cognitive knowledge. This report concluded that the evidence seems to support the use of programmed instruction as a means of economically and effectively teaching nurse aides who work in a rural area nursing home.