The effects of problem-based learning integrated with the nursing process on clinical reasoning, communication skills attitude and nursing process competency among nursing students: A quasi-experimental study.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of problem-based learning integrated with the nursing process on clinical reasoning, communication skills attitude and nursing process competency of nursing students.
Background: Systematic and integrated application of nursing process in various nursing scenarios are necessary as an alternative to limited learning experiences during conventional lectured-based learning. Thus, an innovative nursing curriculum should be developed by adopting problem-based learning integrated with the nursing process, the effectiveness of this process should be tested to improve the quality of nursing education and explore effective educational strategies.
Design: A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test design.
Methods: The study was conducted from September to October, 2023. Third-year nursing students who were selected by intentional sampling were allocated to the control (n=69) and experimental (n=87) groups. The control group participated in conventional lectures, whereas the experimental group participated in the problem-based learning integrated with the nursing process (six sessions) regarding various high-risk obstetrics and gynecology nursing. Thereafter, the students completed structured questionnaire on Google surveys including items on clinical reasoning, communication skills attitude and nursing process competency.
Results: Clinical reasoning (t=-4.599, p=<.001), communication skills attitude (t=-1.848, p=.033) and nursing process competency (t=-3.795, p<.001) increased significantly more in the post-test for the experimental than the control group.
Conclusions: This study shed light on the learning effects that enable effective communication and enhance confidence in nursing students for applying clinical reasoning and the nursing process based on various high-risk obstetrics and gynecology nursing modules. Moreover, learners are expected to experience knowledge expansion and transfer through reasoning and application. Therefore, modules of high-prevalence diseases should be developed for various nursing major courses and problem-based learning integrated with the nursing process linked to these modules should be designed for use in nursing classes.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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