Comparison of the Impact of Traditional and Multimedia Independent Teaching Methods on Nursing Students` Skills in Administrating Medication

Introduction. One of the most important principles of educationg concepts and establishing skills in nursing students is the use of proper gool-based educational methods. Special attention has to be paid to medication administration skills, in order to provide patients’ health. Identifying the best educational ways for administrating medication by nursing students can solve some of the existing educational problems. This experimental study was conducted to compare the impact of traditional and multimedia independent teaching method on cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills of first year nursing students. Methods. In an experimental study 80 first year nursing students participated and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The control group was taught by the traditional method and the experimental group by multimedia independent teaching method. The initial and retention of cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills were measured by a post-test and standard checklist right after the instruction and one month later. Also, the students’ opinion on applied strategies was asked by a separate questionnaire. The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and using t-test and Chi2. Results. Based on the results no significant difference in administrating medication skills was observed between the case and experimental groups in the first stage. But there was a significant difference in initial cognitive knowledge between the two groups. Analysis of data indicated that neither cognitive nor psychomotor skills were statistically different one month after the education. Both methods, however, were found to be effective. Most participants preferred multimedia teaching method to traditional method. Conclusion. Although there was no difference in psychomotor skills of the two groups, due to the students’ emphasis on multimedia independent teaching, it is recommended to use this method in nursing education.