Development and Effects of an e-Learning Program in Operating Room Nursing for Nursing Students

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop an e-Learning program that assists nursing students' clinical practice in operating room nursing and to examine the learning effects. Methods: Based on content and need analysis, 9 learning modules were developed for nursing care in operating rooms and with operating equipment. To verify the effects of the program, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed. The participants in this study were 74 third-year nursing students (34 in the experimental and 40 in the control group) from a junior college in G-city, Korea, who were engaged in a one week clinical practicum in an operating unit. Frequencies, chi(2)-test and t-test with the SPSS program 17.0 were used to analyze the data. Results: Knowledge was significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group (p=.018). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in self-directed learning. The experimental group had significantly higher motivation toward learning, which was examined posttest only (p=.027). Conclusion: These results indicate that the implementation of an e-Learning program needs to be continued as an effective educational tool, but more research on the best way to implement e-Learning in students' practicum is needed.