Investigating the Effect of Case-Based Education on the Knowledge and Practice of Nursing Students in Relation to Drug Therapy

Employing traditional teaching methods in universities may result in a lack of knowledge and practice of drug therapy in nursing students. This study aimed to determine the effect of case-based education on knowledge and practice of drug therapy in nursing students at Jahrom university of Medical Sciences.

This study was conducted in 2020 on 37 nursing interns of Jahrom university of Medical Sciences. The participants were selected through the census method. Online case-based training was conducted through the WhatsApp application in four 90-minute sessions over 4 days. Nursing students’ knowledge and practice of drug therapy were assessed before and after the intervention by a researcher-developed knowledge test related to drug therapy containing 26 multiple-choice questions and an  Objective Structured Clinical Examination containing 10 stations, respectively. The validity and reliability of both knowledge and practice tests were assessed before conducting the study. The collected data were analyzed using paired t-test and Wilcoxon tests in SPSS 21.

The means of drug therapy knowledge in nursing students before and after the intervention was 17.97 ± 2.69 and 22.11 ± 2.55 respectively, and the increase was statistically significant (p <0. 05). Also, the results showed that the means of drug therapy practice before and after the intervention were 61.88 ± 5.37 and 92.85 ± 2.56 respectively, and the increase was statistically significant (p <0. 05).

Case-based education improved knowledge and practice of drug therapy in nursing interns. Therefore, this method is suggested to improve the knowledge and practice of drug therapy.