Program
Physician Assistant M.S.
Year Approved
2017
First Advisor
Naser, Lisa
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to determine the health literacy and medication administration knowledge of unlicensed health care workers such as certified nursing assistants and non-certified caregivers working in assisted living facilities in Minnesota. Currently, there is a lack of research about both the health literacy and medication administration knowledge of unlicensed health care workers. Unlicensed health care workers in assisted living facilities provide healthcare assistance to the elderly and may provide services such as medication administration, blood glucose monitoring, and assistance with activities of daily living. This research utilized the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) assessment to determine the health literacy of unlicensed health care workers and a novel medication administration test to determine knowledge. This study determined that CNA’s have a significantly higher health literacy than non-CNA’s however, this did not correlate to having higher medication administration knowledge. The importance of this research is demonstrated by the consequences that a low health literacy or medication administration knowledge of an unlicensed health care worker can have to the care of an elderly person in an assisted living facility. This research could directly impact how facilities train unlicensed health care workers and identify what importance health literacy has on the training of unlicensed health care workers.
Degree Name
Masters of Science in Physician Assistant
Document Type
Masterʼs thesis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Kissinger, L. J., & Walczak, K. (2017). Health Literacy and Medication Administration Knowledge of Unlicensed Health Care Workers in Assisted Living Facilities [Masterʼs thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/356