The effect of using standardized patients in the Simulated Hospital Environment on first-year nursing students psychomotor skills learning

Real-Time Online Demonstration for Skills Education for First-Year Nursing Students

BACKGROUND

Few studies have investigated first-year nursing students' perspectives after they received real-time online demonstration (RTOD) for fundamental nursing skills education.

METHOD

A mixed-methods study was conducted with prospective second-year nursing students after they completed a one-semester RTOD class in their first year. With permission from the original authors, an online questionnaire, the Self-Structured Questionnaire (SSQ), was administered to 277 students in undergraduate and higher-diploma programs, followed by two focus group interviews with 13 students. Survey and focus group data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, respectively.

RESULTS

Regarding students' barriers in administrative, individual, and technological areas, three themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) learning quality; (2) connection; and (3) impediments.

CONCLUSION

RTOD contributed to fundamental nursing skills education. However, there was room for improvement. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(1):43-47.].

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.

Evaluation of Urinary Catheterization Competency and Self-Efficacy in Nursing Students Using the Flipped Classroom Approach

Urinary catheterization is a complex procedure. Traditional teaching in classroom, such as using a simulator, is not enough to guarantee the necessary learning outcomes. It is therefore necessary to implement new active learning approaches such as the flipped classroom. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the use of the flipped classroom on the level of self-efficacy and the assessment of clinical competencies in nursing students performing the urinary catheterization procedure. A quasi-experimental study of a single group with pre-/post-testing measures. A convenience sample of 139 nursing students. A flipped classroom approach was implemented. Measurements were taken pre and post intervention. This study followed the consolidated criteria for quality of nonrandomized evaluations studies (TREND) checklist. Regarding self-efficacy, statistically significant differences were found between the pre-test and post-test (Z = -14.453; p < 0.05). With respect to knowledge level, statistically significant differences were found when comparing pre-/post-test results (Z = -14,480; p < 0.05). Furthermore, statistically significant differences were found on the ability scale depending on pre-/post-test (Z = -10.277; p < 0.005); in all cases, obtaining a higher score in the post-test. The flipped classroom could be an effective educational tool for the development of clinical skills, specifically urinary catheterization. This method has been shown to improve the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in urinary catheterization of nursing students.