Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Simulation and Web Based Training Methods in the Development of Knowledge and Skills of Urinary Incontinence Management in Nursing Students

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation and web based training methods in developing knowledge and skills of urinary incontinence (UI) management in nursing students. Methods: This study was a single blind, randomized controlled study. It was conducted with 75 period 2 nursing students. The research was carried out in 3 stages. In the first stage; all students were given theoretical training about UI management and pretest was applied. Then, students were divided into three groups, each of which consisted of 25 students, by block randomization method (Intervention 1 group, intervention 2 group and control group). In the second stage, intervention 1 group was trained with the simulation training, and intervention 2 group was trained with web-based training. The control group underwent no intervention. The third stage was initiated after 3 months in order to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge and skills in the long term. All of the students' skills were evaluated on a real patient with UI and posttest was applied. Results: It was found that the change in knowledge level in intervention 1 and intervention 2 groups was similar (p=0.086), but the level of knowledge in both groups was increased more than the control group (p<0.001). In addition, the skills level was the highest in the intervention 1 group and the lowest in the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although simulation and web based trainings have a positive and similar effect on the level of knowledge, it is seen that simulation training has more impact on skill level than web-based training.