Study design
A quasi-experimental study with a pre and post-test design was utilised to determine whether the nursing students could learn and retain the theoretical knowledge of oral medication administration when taught using a video demonstration compared with the conventional demonstration method. Students' attitudes regarding the two teaching methods were also assessed at the end of the study. A questionnaire and a video clip were developed specifically for these purposes.
Participants and setting
Considering the effects of the dependant variable of this study, only the first year BSc Nursing undergraduates of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University were recruited as participants for the study. These students have never been exposed to oral medication administration procedure before. The study was conducted in 2019 at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis generated for this study was that the nursing students who participated in the video demonstration would have increased knowledge score related to oral medication administration than the nursing students who have experienced the lecture demonstration in the skills lab.
Sample size
The sample included all the nursing students enrolled in the first year of BSc in Nursing programme. Among the 45 first‑year BSc nursing students, 22 students were randomly selected and assigned into video demonstration group, and the lecture-demonstration group consisted of 23 students.
Data collection tools and Methods
Data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire which consisted of three parts. Part I covered demographic information, Part II questions on theoritical aspects on oral medication administration and Part III consisted of questions on attitudes regarding the two types of teaching methods. Knowledge acquisition on oral medication administration was measured using Part II which consisted of 15 single best choice answer questions developed by the researchers. These questions were tested for knowledge of the principles of oral medication administration, procedural steps, preparation of medications and special considerations. For example, we presented different six rights of medication administration and ask the students to select the correct set of answers. Part III was also developed by the researchers using a Likert scale in order to assess the attitudes of the students towards the two different teaching methods. Part III was administered to all the study participants at the end of the data collection process. The self administered questionnaire was pre tested using 12 first year nursing undergraduates of a non state university and amended accordingly.
The main objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of video –demonstration method compared to the lecture demonstration method with regards to the knowledge acquisition of oral medication administration. Therefore, a video demonstration and a lecture demonstration were separately developed by the research team. Important priniciples underpinning the oral medication administration were included in both lecture and video demonstrations. Six rights of medication administration, i.e. right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time and right documentation and three checks of medication administration were included as patient safety measures. Assessment of the patient, preparation of environment and equipment, sequence of the procedure, prevention of cross infection, how to prepare the medication if it is a packaged tablet/capsule or a liquid medication, and proper waste disposal and cleaning and storing utensils after the procedure were incorpeoated as principles of medication administration.
The oral medication administration video clip was created using an adult manikin as the patient. The video recording was done in the skills lab setting using the same equipment which is used in the lecture-demonstration. The same lecturer did video dubbing who conducted the lecture-demonstration. The total video was 10 minutes. The video demonstration is the exact replication of the lecture – demonstration. The final version of the video clip was shared with two experienced clinical instructors in order to verify the accuracy of the performance and recording quality. In the lecture – demonstration, the teaching of correct steps of oral medication administration by the lecturer was adopted in the skills laboratory setting.
After completing the sociodemographic data form, the pre-test knowledge scores of both groups were assessed using Part II of the questionnaire. After that, the lecture-demonstration group (n=23) received the oral medication administration through the lecture-demonstration, whereas, the video demonstration group (n=22) was taught the oral medication administration procedure by the same lecturer using the video clip on a projected screen with speakers in the skills lab setting on the same day. Finally, the post-test and the attitude questions were administered to both groups on the 8th day after delivering lecture demonstration and video demonstration.
Ethical considerations
This study was approved by the ethical review committee of the Faculty of Medicine, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with registration no. RP/2018/10, dated January 30, 2019. Furthermore, the permission to enrol undergraduates of KDU for this study was obtained from the Vice-Chancellor . All the enrolled students signed an informed consent containing clear information about the study, its purpose, and methods.
Statistical Analysis
Pre-test baseline characteristics for the experimental and control groups were examined using t-tests and χ2 tests. The paired t-test was used to compare the mean differences in knowledge based on the questionnaire within groups. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the pre-test and post-test self-confidence scores within groups. A difference was considered significant when the p-value was less than 0.05.