Effectiveness of using a simulation combined with online learning approach to develop discharge teaching skills

• Published in: Nurse education in practice Vol. 52; p. 103024
• Main Authors: Weiss, Marianne E., Piacentine, Linda B., Candela, Lori, Bobay, Kathleen L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Accreditation; Aftercare; Clinical Competence; Clinical medicine; Clinical nursing; Clinical outcomes; Cognitive style; Continuing education; Curricula; Discharge planning; Discharge teaching; Distance learning; Education, Distance; Educational Strategies; Health care; Health education; Health status; Humans; Hypotheses; Learning Activities; Medical education; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing skills; Online learning; Patient Discharge; Patient education; Pedagogy; Performance evaluation; Simulation; Skills; Students; Students, Nursing; Teaching; Teaching methods; Teaching Skills; Work skills; United States > US; Discharge teaching; Patient education; Simulation; Online learning
• ISSN: 1471-5953; 1873-5223
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103024

Despite evidence of the impact of discharge teaching on patient outcomes, nursing students are poorly prepared in the pedagogical skills necessary for their role as patient and family educators in clinical practice. This study evaluated the effectiveness of simulation combined with online learning to improve nursing students’ discharge teaching skills. The module included simulations before and after an online module on patient/family teaching for hospital discharge. Evaluation measures were student and independent rater evaluations using the Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale- Evaluation form (QDTS-E). Students (n = 153) improved their performance on both content and delivery subscales of the QDTS-E by 20% (student self-evaluations) and 18% (independent raters). However, correlations between student and rater scores were low (r = 0.08-0.22). Use of simulation with online learning in a discharge teaching module can help students build patient education skills to improve post-discharge patient outcomes, contributing to national health priorities to reduce hospital readmissions. With further refinement and testing, the learning module and QDTS-E evaluation form may also be useful for evaluation and continuing education of clinical nursing staff. •Discharge teaching is a fundamental skill in acute care nursing practice.•Practice-based studies found a need for discharge teaching improvement prelicensure.•Simulation can be both a learning strategy and an evaluative method.•Student and independent raters documented discharge teaching skills improvement.•Linking faculty research to student learning impacts key practice improvement needs.