Blended learning pedagogy designed for communication module among undergraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Effective communication is important for nurse and patient outcomes. Nursing students often feel unprepared to communicate effectively with patients and other healthcare workers within the clinical environment. Blended learning pedagogy-based communication skills training can provide an alternative to traditional methods of teaching to enhance students' satisfaction and self-efficacy levels in communicating with others.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effectiveness of blended learning pedagogy in a redesigned communication module among nursing undergraduates in enhancing their satisfaction levels and attitudes towards learning communication module as well as self-efficacy in communication.

DESIGN: A single group pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was adopted.

SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected from August 2016 to November 2016 from 124 nursing undergraduates from a leading nursing school.

METHODS: Blended learning pedagogy was adopted to redesign a communication module that offered a wide array of learning opportunities via face-to-face classroom and online sessions. Validated and reliable instruments were used to measure satisfaction levels with blended learning pedagogy, attitudes towards learning communication, and communication self-efficacy. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS: Participants had enhanced satisfaction levels with blended learning pedagogy, better attitudes in learning communication skills, and improved communication self-efficacies at posttest (week 13 of the semester) when compared with their pre-test scores (week one of the semester). Participants scored higher in the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, the Communication Skills Attitude Scale, and the communication skills subscale of the Nursing Students Self-Efficacy Scale.

CONCLUSIONS: Blended learning pedagogy can be effectively used in facilitating communication modules and enhancing student outcomes among nursing undergraduates. The long-term effectiveness of using blended learning pedagogy in facilitating communication modules should be evaluated from students' and patients' perspectives. Additionally, the technology should be constantly improved by incorporating more interactive functions and should be tested to accommodate the learners' needs.