Distance education (E-learning) as an effective tool to improve nurses’ perception and knowledge of developmental care of preterm infants: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

\n Background: Providing developmental care for preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is of special importance. To implement developmental care accurately, NICU nurses must have a proper understanding and sufficient knowledge in this field. This study aimed to investigate the effect of distance education on perception and knowledge of neonatal developmental care in nurses working in neonatal intensive care units. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with two groups. The participants were 60 nurses working in neonatal intensive care units who were selected using convenience sampling. The instruments used to collect the data were the Demographic Information Questionnaire, the Developmental Care Knowledge Scale, and the Developmental Care Perception Scale. The data were collected before and one month after the intervention. The participants in the intervention group received developmental care training using an electronic file uploaded in Navid Learning Management System, while the members of the control group received no intervention. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS V25 software. All statistical tests were performed at the significance level of 0.05 (P = 0.05). Results: The results of paired samples t-test showed there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of perception and knowledge of developmental care before and after the intervention in the control group (p> 0.05). However, the difference in the pre-intervention and post-intervention scores was statistically significant for the participants in the intervention group (p<0.001). Moreover, the results of the independent samples t-test showed that the mean scores of perception and knowledge of developmental care between the two groups before the intervention was not statistically significant (p= 0.67)). The results of univariate analysis of covariance also showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean score of perception and knowledge of developmental care between the two groups after the intervention (p=0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that distance education for the developmental care of premature infants plays an effective role in the perception and knowledge of nurses working in the neonatal intensive care unit. Therefore, the development of e-learning packages for developmental care and their availability for nurses can be a step to improve the quality of nursing care for infants admitted to the NICU.