The Effectiveness of Mobile Applications in Improving Nursing Students’ Knowledge Related to Pressure Injury Prevention

Abstract

The study’s main goal was to compare the effects of a mobile application versus traditional methods of teaching on nursing students’ acquisition of knowledge about pressure injury prevention. In addition, a secondary aim was to discover nursing students’ viewpoints related to the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile applications as an educational method. A randomized controlled study design was implemented during November and December of 2023 in a nursing faculty with 60 undergraduate students in their second nursing year. A total of 30 students were assigned to the mobile application group, while the other 30 students were assigned to the traditional lecture group. The study was executed in three stages: pre-test, educational intervention, and post-test. The results of the study during the pre-test showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the mean scores of pressure injury themes between the two groups. However, the post-test scores for all PI themes were higher in the mobile application group compared to the traditional lecture group. Furthermore, five advantages of the mobile application were highlighted by students: “improvement of students’ knowledge and skills”, “self-confidence”, “stress reduction”, “enhancement of competence”, and “stimulation of learning motivation”. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the mobile application method in enhancing nursing students’ knowledge and prophylaxis of pressure injury. Therefore, the mobile application method is recommended as an innovative approach to teaching.