Online intravenous pump emulator: As effective as face-to-face simulation for training nursing students

Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Education for Caring Patients with COVID-19

PURPOSE

The role of medical staff gained immense significance in the context of the prolonged coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, few studies had explored the impact of simulation-based education on the ability of nursing students to care for the patients of COVID-19. This study provided nursing students with simulation-based education in caring for the patients of COVID-19 and confirmed its effectiveness.

METHODS

This study used a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were recruited from the nursing departments of two universities in Korea through convenience sampling. A total of 79 participants were included: 37 in the intervention group and 42 in the control group. The intervention group received four sessions of simulation training based on the National League for Nursing Jeffries simulation theory.

RESULTS

The intervention group showed an improvement compared to the control group in terms of knowledge related to coronavirus, confidence in performing infection control skills, and perception of preparedness for caring for the patients of COVID-19, with a high-level of satisfaction and self-confidence in learning. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of anxiety.

CONCLUSION

This simulation is expected to be a significant strategy for alleviating the global burden in terms of staff safety and patient outcomes by improving the competencies of prospective medical staff in responding to pandemics.

Improving procedural skills acquisition of students during medical device training: experiments on e-Learning vs. e-Learning with hands-on

In the context of medical device training, e-Learning can address problems like unstandardized content and different learning paces. However, staff and students value hands-on activities during medical device training. In a blended learning approach, we examined whether using a syringe pump while conducting an e-Learning program improves the procedural skills needed to operate the pump compared to using the e-Learning program only. In two experiments, the e-Learning only group learned using only the e-Learning program. The e-Learning + hands-on group was instructed to use a syringe pump during the e-Learning to repeat the presented content (section "Experiment 1") or to alternate between learning on the e-Learning program and applying the learned content using the pump (section "Experiment 2"). We conducted a skills test, a knowledge test, and assessed confidence in using the pump immediately after learning and two weeks later. Simply repeating the content (section "Experiment 1") did not improve performance of e-Learning + hands-on compared with e-Learning only. The instructed learning process (section "Experiment 1") resulted in significantly better skills test performance for e-Learning + hands-on compared to the e-Learning only. Only a structured learning process based on multi-media learning principles and memory research improved procedural skills in relation to operating a medical device.

Learning practical nursing skills in simulation centers - A narrative review

Background

Practical skills are complex procedures integrating communication and caring, as well as technical and manual aspects. Simulation at a simulation/skills center offers a wide range of learning activities and aims to imitate patient situations.

Objectives

To investigate the international research literature on practical skills learning in simulation/skills centers in nursing education. Research questions: 1. What are the range and type of practical skills studied? 2. What learning activities are focused on in the studies included in the review? 3. What are the learning outcomes and how are they assessed?

Design

Narrative review.

Methods

We searched electronically and included studies from Medline Ovid, CINAHL, Eric, Embase, Academic Search Premiere, and Cochrane. Unique indexing terms and search strategies were developed for each database. The criteria for inclusion were bachelor nursing students as the study population and practical nursing skills learning in simulation/skills centers. We used Rayyan QCRIt for the initial screening and the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool for quality assessment. We used a narrative approach to synthesize the diverse range of studies.

Findings

One hundred and twenty-one studies from 26 countries published between January 2013 and March 2022 were included. The amount of quantitative research was overwhelming (n = 108). A total of 50 different practical skills were represented. The studies focused on which learning modalities resulted in the best learning outcomes. Only 8.5% (n = 7) of the included studies concerned students' learning processes. Skill performance (n = 101), knowledge (n = 57), confidence (n = 34), and satisfaction (n = 32) were the main learning outcomes measured.

Discussion

The quality assessment indicated that 10 of the studies achieved 100% on the mixed method appraisal tool criteria. In many of the studies with quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trial designs, the intervention group received some form of educational treatment while the control group received no treatment. The choice of no treatment for the control group in pedagogical research seems to disregard the inherent purpose and effect of teaching and learning.

Conclusion

Heterogeneity in the use of learning modalities and measuring instruments precludes the possibility of building on other research. Technical skills were the preferred choice of skill, while skills that involved a fair measure of communication and collaboration were only sparingly studied. Students' learning processes were barely touched on in the included studies. More focus should be placed on this area in further research, since the choice of learning modalities may affect the students' learning processes in significant ways.

Nursing informatics in undergraduate nursing education in Australia prior to COVID-19: A scoping review

Background

Technology can support transformational outcomes of high quality and evidenced-based care and education. Embedding nursing informatics into the undergraduate nursing curriculum enhances nursing students’ digital health literacy, whilst preparing them to use health information systems and technological innovations to support their learning both at university and in the clinical environment.

Aim

This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the published literature on how nursing informatics was embedded and integrated into the undergraduate nursing curriculum in Australia before coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Methodology

A scoping review approach guided this study using the Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien framework, and the following databases were searched: CINAHL Plus, EMCARE, MEDLINE Ovid, Scopus, ERIC ProQuest, and Web of Science. A total of 26 articles were included: Five quantitative studies, eight qualitative studies and 13 mixed-methods studies.

Findings

Few studies focused on the concept of nursing informatics itself, and only two studies described the process of developing curricula that contain nursing informatics competencies and their implementation: the educational scaffolding and modular development approach and a Community of Inquiry Framework (COI). Most studies centred on nursing informatics tools to facilitate teaching and learning in classrooms and skills laboratories. The reported pedagogical strategies were online learning, blended learning, and technology-enabled simulations. Hindrances to nursing informatics being integrated into undergraduate curricula were disparities of the informatics content, a lack of guidelines and/or frameworks, and poor digital literacy.

Conclusion

This study provided a baseline perspective of how nursing informatics was embedded and integrated into nursing education in Australia before COVID-19. Overwhelmingly, the focus of research to date was found to be mainly on the utilisation of technological tools to support learning and teaching.

How registered nurses balance limited resources in order to maintain competence: a grounded theory study

Background

Nurses have limited time outside of work for continuing professional development. Consequently, strategies need to be explored to enable them to better maintain their competence. This article describes recent research investigating if nursing behaviours in the use of mobile technologies could be leveraged to better facilitate mobile learning. It addresses a gap in the existing literature around how nurses resource their own professional development and learning in the absence of appropriate learning resources in the workplace.

Methods

The research employed a classic grounded theory methodology which was conducted with 27 registered nurses from Public and Private Hospitals in Queensland and external postgraduate nursing students from Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory enrolled at the University of Southern Queensland.

Results

The Theory of Economising Learning describes how nurses maintain competence with limited resources. Unfavourable staffing levels and a fast-paced workplace mean that nurses rarely prioritise their professional learning while at work. Instead, it requires the nurse to contribute personal resources including time and money.

Though the research revealed nurses were unconcerned about using mobile technologies, they were concerned about maintaining competence with limited resources. To counter this, nurses economised their learning by balancing personal resources against their motivation to maintain competence. The process of economising learning begins and ends with the development of the nurse’s personal curriculum in response to what they identify as being the most significant knowledge deficits at work that jeopardise their competence. A learning opportunity that addresses the knowledge deficit is sought. Nurses balance the opportunity to address the deficit against the cost of personal resources, to decide if they will engage with the opportunity and update their personal curriculum accordingly.

Conclusions

It is suggested that workplaces need to create reasonable expectations within nurses to address knowledge deficits and provide the resources, including time, to allow them to do so without personal cost. It is also necessary for workplaces to moderate the flow of learning opportunities so as not to overwhelm and demotivate the nurses. Currently, nurses use several strategies to optimise their learning using mobile technologies which could be leveraged in the workplace.

Israeli nursing students' acceptance of information and communication technologies in clinical placements

BACKGROUND

Nursing students are required to be adequately prepared to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in clinical practice. Yet, studies conducted worldwide indicate personal, organizational, and social barriers reported by students and a discrepancy between clinical resources and students' needs.

PURPOSE

To explore nursing students' usage of ICT during clinical placement and the associations between students' ICT acceptance, human and organizational resources, and ICT usage.

METHOD

Data were collected from 303 second and third year Israeli nursing students, through a self-administered structured questionnaire.

RESULTS

The use of Medical Health Records during clinical placements was rated highest (M = 4.62, SD = 0.74, range 1-5), whereas the use of e-Books was rated lowest (M = 2.26, SD = 1.37, range 1-5). Positive correlations were found between ICT use and human resources, social influence, organizational resources, and performance expectancy. Significant differences were found according to study years and proficiency in computer skills between students. Perceived human resources, cultural group, Hebrew proficiency, and social influence explained 28% of students' variance in ICT usage.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse administrators and educators should promote the preparation of clinical settings in accordance with students' needs and proficiencies. Moreover, the development of curricula and clinical practicums must also take into account the role of organizational, social, and computer proficiency in students' ICT adoption.

Blended learning in undergraduate nursing education - A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

To provide a comprehensive scoping review of the existing literature regarding the use of blended learning in undergraduate nursing education. To align the varied educational terms and definitions with the broad definition of blended learning.

DESIGN

Scoping review following established methodology.

DATA SOURCES

In consultation with library services, the academic literature was searched. Electronic databases searched included ERIC (OVID), Medline (OVID), PubMed, Nursing and Allied Health, and CINAHL Plus.

REVIEW METHODS

A total of 189 potentially relevant nursing research articles published between the years of 2009 and 2019. Three reviewers independently reviewed the articles, leaving 37 relevant primary articles in the nursing field to be included in the scoping review.

RESULTS

Nursing content delivered using blended learning approaches were organized into 8 themes. Themes include Professional Nursing Skills; Mental Health Nursing; Bioscience; Pharmacology, Specialty Populations; Nursing Assessment; Acute Care Nursing; and the Art of Nursing. A variety of blended learning approaches are being utilized in Undergraduate nursing education, the majority of which are happening in the classroom.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review presents explicit the degrees to which blended learning is referred to in the nursing education literature and expanded the definition of blended learning to encompass the terminology associated with distributed, decentralized, hybrid, and flexible learning. There is a wide, varied, and expanding number of blended learning approaches currently being utilized in nursing education to teach a wide range of nursing content and skills. An expanded scoping review focused on blended learning in psychiatric nursing, licenced practical nursing, nurse practitioners, and all graduate level nursing education programs is recommended as is additional research into the use of blended learning in the lab or clinical setting.

Investigation of blended learning video resources to teach health students clinical skills: An integrative review

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this review is to inform future educational strategies by synthesising research related to blended learning resources using simulation videos to teach clinical skills for health students.

DESIGN

An integrative review methodology was used to allow for the combination of diverse research methods to better understand the research topic. This review was guided by the framework described by Whittemore and Knafl (2005), DATA SOURCES: Systematic search of the following databases was conducted in consultation with a librarian using the following databases: SCOPUS, MEDLINE, COCHRANE, PsycINFO databases. Keywords and MeSH terms: clinical skills, nursing, health, student, blended learning, video, simulation and teaching.

REVIEW METHODS

Data extracted from the studies included author, year, aims, design, sample, skill taught, outcome measures and findings. After screening the articles, extracting project data and completing summary tables, critical appraisal of the projects was completed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).

RESULTS

Ten articles met all the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The MMAT scores varied from 50% to 100%. Thematic analysis was undertaken and we identified the following three themes: linking theory to practice, autonomy of learning and challenges of developing a blended learning model. Blended learning allowed for different student learning styles, repeated viewing, and enabled links between theory and practice. The video presentation needed to be realistic and culturally appropriate and this required both time and resources to create.

CONCLUSIONS

A blended learning model, which incorporates video-assisted online resources, may be a useful tool to teach clinical skills to students of health including nursing. Blended learning not only increases students' knowledge and skills, but is often preferred by students due to its flexibility.

Face-to-face instruction combined with online resources improves retention of clinical skills among undergraduate nursing students

BACKGROUND

There is growing evidence that online resources used to develop clinical skills among students in the healthcare professions can produce equivalent learning outcomes to traditional face-to-face training methods. Whether clinical competence is retained equally well for online and face-to-face training methods is not yet established.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the study was to compare retention of competence in using an IV infusion pump among nursing students trained in its use using three different protocols.

DESIGN

A quasi-experimental design was used.

SETTING

The study was conducted in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at a regional university in Queensland, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 102 first year nursing students (female=89, male=13) enrolled in a medications course, ranging in age from 18 to 44years.

METHODS

Three groups of participants were trained in the use of an IV infusion pump and competence was assessed following a 26-week period of no access to the pump. Group 1 participants (ONL; n=34) were trained online using an Intravenous Pump Emulator (IVPE); Group 2 participants (ONC; n=38) were trained on campus using an actual IV pump in a traditional face-to-face setting; Group 3 participants (ONL+ONC; n=30) were trained both on campus using the actual IV pump and online using the IVPE.

RESULTS

As hypothesised, no significant differences in learning outcomes, measured by assessment scores out of 80 points, were found between the ONL (M=68.7±5.9) and ONC (M=65.5±11.5; p>0.05) groups. The ONL+ONC group recorded the highest mean assessment score (M=70.0±5.0) and completed the assessment task significantly faster (p<0.001) than the other two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that nursing students retained clinical competence in preparing and administrating IV infusions better when face-to-face and online learning were combined.

Implementation and Evaluation of a Blended Learning Course on Tuberculosis for Front-Line Health Care Professionals

OBJECTIVES

To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a 10-module blended learning course on tuberculosis diagnosis for Ethiopian health care professionals.

METHODS

This implementation science research was conducted within the routine in-service training for health care professionals in Ethiopia. A combined web-based and face-to-face acid-fast bacilli microscopy course was designed and its applicability studied after 6 weeks of enrollment of 108 medical laboratory professionals. A survey was conducted to capture participants' feedback on the course.

RESULTS

Of 108 participants enrolled, 81 attended and 73 (90%) completed the course; 72 (94%) had no experience taking online courses. Mean percentages of quizzes, assignments/exercises, and hands-on scores were 88%, 70%, and 95%, respectively. No significant differences were found in scores between participants from public, private, and nongovernmental health facilities ( P = .386) or between higher and lower level facilities ( P = .533). Participants' overall satisfaction with the course was 88%.

CONCLUSIONS

Blended learning was an effective pedagogic approach for this category of professionals because of the crucial need for hands-on training for practicing and translating knowledge into skills. This approach also had the advantages of keeping the costs of the entire course low and reaching a greater number of participants, all without significant disruption of work schedules.