ABSTRACT NICOLE PHAY WARE. Exploring nurses’ knowledge and comfort as heart failure educators in a non-cardiac acute care environment prior to providing an online learning module (Under the direction of DR. CHARLENE WHITAKER-BROWN)Heart Failure (HF) is a global health epidemic, with approximately 6.5 million people living with the diagnosis in the United States alone. HF is a chronic disease and is progressive, however it is also manageable if current guidelines are part of patient teaching. Nurses at the bedside are the primary educators of patients with chronic diseases and therefore they must stay abreast of evidence-based guidelines. This scholarly project explores the current HF knowledge of novice and experienced nurses in an adult, acute care environment that does not typically admit patients with HF as a primary diagnosis. Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model of Change was applied to assist this researcher with a systematic approach to assessing levels of knowledge and creating an online learning module to address the needs of the adult learner. Fifty bedside nurses participated in a two cohort study that measured knowledge of HF utilizing the validated Nurses’ Knowledge of Heart Failure Principles Survey. Two cohorts of bedside nurses were given access to an online education module once their baseline knowledge had been assessed. Nurses were asked pivotal questions related to years of service, age, certification, and comfort as HF educators. Results revealed that the nurses may not have the most current knowledge of HF principles. The study results confirmed the theory of the literature in similar studies with larger sample sizes. Where there were gaps in knowledge in more than 50% of the members of the cohort in the previously identified areas not more than 11% requested follow up information in any of one of the domains. The findings of the study suggests the need for baseline measurement of knowledge and continuing education in all nurses caring for patients with HF to enhance self-management reduce readmission.