LAUSR

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.