Comparing the effectiveness of SMS and lectures on the job training for nurses

Introduction: Due to difficulties in nursing education by teaching methods, and the uncertainty of the effectiveness of teaching by SMS, this study Comparing the effectiveness of SMS and lectures on the job training for nurses. Methods: This study was a randomized intervention study in 2014. The samples in this study were selected by cluster sampling among the nurses in hospitals of Arak. Then randomly divided into two intervention groups: lectures (Group I: 43) and SMS (Group II: n = 43). Diabetic ketoacidosis was trained through lectures for the first group and short message service for the second group. Then, knowledge of nurses examined one month after the end of training. The data were analyzed by SPSS 20, using Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard deviation, Independent t-test, Paired t-test and Analysis of Covariance. Results: There was a significant difference between the post-test scores of the two groups (P< 0.001, t=5.49), as the average of scores in the lecture-based group (18.93±1.86) was higher than that in the SMS-based group (16.15±2.68). Conclusion: Job training through lectures more than short message has been effective to increase the knowledge of nursing. It is suggested that in addition to the lecture as an effective method for training nurses, other methods such as the use of short message system has to be considered.