Clinical Nursing Education Based on Nursing Process and Group Discussion

Introduction: Considering the importance of promoting nursing education and benefits of new teaching methods, especially group discussion, this study aimed to compare the effects of group discussion combined with the nursing process and traditional method on learning and satisfaction of nursing students in clinical situations. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted during 2009 on 28 nursing students in Kashan's Nursing faculty who had taken their clinical course of medical surgical nursing II. The students were divided into 2 groups of intervention (teaching based on nursing process and group discussion) and control (traditional method) groups. The instrument for data gathering consisted of demographic questions, a question on the students’ satisfaction of the teaching method and a series of multiple-choice questions carried out one and three weeks after the end of clinical course. Data analysis was conducted using independent and paired t-test and Smirnov Kolmogorov through SPSS. Results: The mean scores were higher in group discussion method than in the traditional method (16.8±1.9 vs. 13.26±.25). The mean scores were higher in the third week than in the first week (p=0.05). Students were more satisfied with the group discussion method. Conclusion: Teaching based on nursing process and group discussion could result in a better and more durable learning at least for three weeks after the clinical courses. This method can be used by clinical nursing teachers to activate students and stabilize their learning.