Implementing guideline-checklists: Evaluating health care providers intentional behaviour using an extended model of...

Internationally, clinical guidelines as checklists are increasingly used in acute ward practice to standardize the delivery and raise the quality of care on acute hospital wards. However, when guideline-checklists are implemented repeatedly, health providers' intentions to carry out this type of behaviour are not well understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate nurses' and health care assistants' (HCAs) intentions to implement a "care round checklist"; a guideline-intervention repeated hourly on hospital wards. Furthermore, an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model's usefulness in explaining this type of behaviour was also evaluated.

A theory-informed questionnaire, guided by the TPB, habit, and clinical context variables, was developed to measure the guideline-checklist behaviour. Quantitative questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive and inferential tests to establish differences in nurses' and HCAs' intentions and the predictive value of the model.

A sample of 270 nurses and HCAs returned questionnaires from 24 wards in a major hospital in England. The extended TPB model explained 20% of nurses and 24% of HCAs reported intentions to implement a care round checklist, a modest proportion of intent. Attitude and perceived control best predicted nurses' intentions, and attitude and practice habit HCAs' intentions. TPB belief variables helped explain why nurses and HCAs intentions were different.

Statistically, the extended TPB model highlighted that nurses and HCAs intentions to implement this type of guideline are predicted by different variables. This implied professional "role" as an important variable in explaining differences in intentions, which should be evaluated and integrated into the future design of this type of checklist. Further variables could be added to explain and learn more about intentional thinking for this type of behaviour and should help to develop a theoretical understanding of intentions underpinning this type of behaviour and ultimately improve patient care.