The effect of cardiac arrhythmias simulation software on the nurses’ learning and professional development

Introduction: One of the important tasks of nurses in intensivecare unit is interpretation of ECG. The use of training simulator isa new paradigm in the age of computers. This study was performedto evaluate the impact of cardiac arrhythmias simulator softwareon nurses’ learning in the subspecialty Vali-Asr Hospital in 2016.Methods: This study was conducted by quasi-experimentalrandomized Salomon four group design with the participationof 120 nurses in subspecialty Vali-Asr Hospital in Tehran,Iran in 2016 that were selected purposefully and allocated in 4groups. By this design other confounding factors such as theprior information, maturation and the role of sex and age werecontrolled by Solomon 4 design. The valid and reliable multiplechoice test tools were used to gather information; the validity ofthe test was approved by experts and its reliability was obtainedby Cronbach’s alpha coefficient 0.89. At first, the knowledge andskills of the participants were assessed by a pre-test; followingthe educational intervention with cardiac arrhythmias simulatorsoftware during 14 days in ICUs, the mentioned factors weremeasured for the two groups again by a post-test in the fourgroups. Data were analyzed using the two way ANOVA. Thesignificance level was considered as p<0.05.Results: Based on randomized four-group Solomon designs andour test results, using cardiac arrhythmias simulator softwareas an intervention was effective in the nurses’ learning since asignificant difference was found between pre-test and post-testin the first group (p<0.05). Also, other comparisons by ANOVAtest showed that there was no interaction between pre-test andintervention in all of the three knowledge areas of cardiacarrhythmias, their treatments and their diagnosis (p>0.05).Conclusion: The use of software-based simulator for cardiacarrhythmias was effective in nurses’ learning in light of itsattractive components and interactive method. This interventionincreased the knowledge of the nurses in cognitive domain ofcardiac arrhythmias in addition to their diagnosis and treatment.Also, the package can be used for training in other areas such ascontinuing medical education.Keywords: Cardiac arrhythmia, Software, Learning, Nursing education