A Blended Learning to Enhance Communication Skill Competence and Self-Efficacy of Nursing Students in Clinical Handovers

February 5, 2024 updated by: Li Ho Cheung William, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Efficacy of a Blended Learning Programme in Enhancing the Communication Skill Competence and Self-Efficacy of Nursing Students in Conducting Clinical Handovers: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This study aimed to examine the efficacy of a blended learning programme in enhancing the communication skill competence and self-efficacy of final-year nursing students in conducting clinical handovers.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

A clinical handover refers to the process of transferring the relevant information and facilitating continuity of patient care from one healthcare provider to another. It is an essential nursing practice that ensures patient safety. The information transmitted during the handover must be clear, concise and systematic to facilitate the provision of continuous patient care. Ambiguous communication and unsystematically transmitted information can often impede the clarity of ideas, result in the omission of important patient information and delay medical treatment, consequently endangering the safety of patients. Nursing students and newly graduated nurses often struggle with clinical handovers due to a lack of communication skill competence and self-efficacy in performing this practice.

Blended learning programmes (BLPs) are commonly used as constructivist pedagogical approaches in nursing education. BLPs have been used successfully to teach theoretical courses and psychomotor skills in nursing education and have been proven to benefit the knowledge, self-efficacy, motivation, attitudes and perceived competence of students. However, no studies that examine the efficiency of BLPs in enhancing the communication skill competence and self-efficacy of nursing students in conducting clinical handovers have been found. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the efficacy of BLP in improving the communication skill competence and self-efficacy of nursing students in conducting clinical handovers.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

96

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • were Hong Kong residents who could speak Cantonese and read Chinese and English
  • were aged at least 18 years
  • had not previously enrolled in a clinical handover training programme.

Exclusion Criteria:

- NA

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group
The participants in the experimental group received a blended learning programme with face-to-face training and an online module on handover practice.
A blended learning programme with face-to-face training and an online module on handover practice
Active Comparator: waitlist control group
The participants in the waitlist control group received the same face-to-face training workshop as the experimental group. However, these participants were invited to access the online module only after data collection was completed.
The participants in the waitlist control group received the same face-to-face training workshop as the experimental group. However, these participants were invited to access the online module only after data collection was completed

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline communication skill competence at 2 weeks after they received the intervention
Time Frame: From baseline to 2 weeks after they received the intervention
The participants' communication skill competence in conducting clinical handovers was assessed using the Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Communication and Communication Clarity tool. The assessment had 23 items that were rated on a Likert scale. Higher scores correspond to better performance.
From baseline to 2 weeks after they received the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline self-perceived communication self-efficacy level in conducting clinical handovers at 2 weeks after they received the intervention
Time Frame: From baseline to 2 weeks after they received the intervention
The participants' self-perceived communication self-efficacy level in conducting clinical handovers was assessed using a visual analogue scale. The visual analogue scale values were found to reliably reflect the participants' true attitudes with low distortion and bias. The participants were requested to drag a sliding bar from 0 to 100 on the online survey platform to indicate the level of confidence in their ability to conduct clinical handovers (0 = Not at all confident, 100 = Extremely confident).
From baseline to 2 weeks after they received the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Study Director: Ho Cheung William Li, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 16, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 8, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

June 8, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 24, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 6, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

December 8, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

February 7, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2024

Last Verified

December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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