The Effect of Teaching Clinical Skills Through Social Networks on Nursing Students’ Clinical Skills in Crisis Handling: A Quasi- Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: When a crisis occurs, nurses are at the forefront of providing care to patients in emergency rooms. The need for skilled nurses is increasing due to the crises and disasters that are occurring around the world. The aim of the study was to determine whether teaching clinical skills through social networks can affect nursing students’ clinical skills in crisis handling.Methods: This study was done in Iran in 2021. One hundred nursing students were selected by simple random sampling and divided into control and intervention groups. Nursing clinical skills in crisis questionnaires were used before and after intervention in two groups. Distance learning through social networks was done for a month. SPSS version 15 was used for data analysis. The significance level was 0.05.Results: There was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups before the intervention (P >0.05). The mean score of clinical skills in the control group increased from 60.82 before the study to 62.75 after the study, which was not statistically significant (P >0.05). The mean clinical skills of the intervention group increased from 58.02 before the intervention to 82.52 after the intervention, which was statistically significant (P < 0.001).Conclusions: This study showed nurses’ clinical skills are low during crises. Education through social networks can improve them and should be part of nursing education. The application of this low-cost and inexpensive method is recommended for improving clinical skills in nursing.