Role Playing Approach vs. Traditional Method about Neonatal Admission Skills among Midwifery Students

Introduction Since, employing new education approach is necessary for enhancing medical students` skills, so the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of role –play approach compared the traditional method about neonatal admission skills in delivery room among midwifery students. Materials and Methods This was an experimental study in 2013-2014 in Isfahan-Iran. After baseline testing, 30 midwifery students were trained using role-playing method for neonatal admission skills (n=15, case group) and using a traditional method (n=15, control group). Participants were tested after intervention in final term. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 13 and descriptive and analysis such as independent t-test and paired test. The significant level was considered less than 0.05. Results Before intervention, the findings did not show any significant difference between skill scores of  two groups (role-play and traditional method); while a statistically significant difference was observed in after intervention between the scores of two groups (P=0.003). After intervention, Paired t- test showed a statistically significant difference in skills scores in two groups respectively (P=0.024, P=0.010). Conclusion Role-play teaching technique can be increased neonatal admission management skills levels in midwifery students. So, the conduction of this educational model is recommended as an effective learning in neonatal admission management. The role playing approach leads to comparable practical neonatal admission management-performance compared to traditional method. Therefore, this approach could be useful in special educational settings especial midwifery and neonatal wards.