E-learning vs Standard Lecture: Which is the Best Approach to Improve Senior Nursing Students’ Skills in Pressure Ulcer Classification?

Abstract

The ability to classify pressure ulcers correctly is an important skill that every bedside nurse and nursing student should have, in order to institute appropriate intervention for each patient suffering from pressure ulcers. Misclassification of pressure ulcer is a common among healthcare providers. Education and training about this topic is essential to expand nurses’ and nursing students’ skills and knowledge. Currently, the training is based mainly on traditional lecture teaching, while the uses of e-learning education for pressure ulcer care still in its infancy. The purpose of this study was to assess nursing students’ skills to classify pressure ulcers correctly, and to evaluate the effect of an e-learning program on improving students’ pressure ulcer classification skills. Using a quasi-experimental that involved pre-test-post-test control group design.Senior nursing students in one public university in Jordan were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=47), and a control group (n=48). The intervention group received an e-learning educational program about pressure ulcer classification, and the control group received a traditional, standard lecture about the same topic. Both groups were asked to complete a pre-test and, after the training sessions, they completed a post-test of the same contents. The participants’ skills in classifying pressure ulcers were inadequate at the pre-test. Furthermore, the inter-rater reliability of pressure ulcer classification was poor. The skills were improved markedly after both types of training were received, with better results displayed by the e-learning program (intervention group M=14.9, SD=2.68; control group M=9.5, SD=2.58; p=0.03). The inter-rater reliability, including both the Cohen Kappa and the percentage of agreement, was also improved after the education programs were administered, again with the intervention group being superior (intervention group k=0.62, % of agreement= 68.1%; Control Group k=0.38, % of agreement=48.2%).

To summarize, participants’ skills in pressure ulcer classification were limited. The E-learning program was superior to the conventional lecture in improving participants’ skills of PU classification. Adoption of this type of training is recommended in nursing education.

Keywords: E-learning, Standard lecture, Pressure ulcer, Classification.