Process evaluation of a washing-without-water cross-over trial, a qualitative study

Process evaluation of a washing-without-water trial Background: An alternative bathing method with disposable wash-gloves shows some advantages compared to traditional bathing. However, in a review with a focus on traditional bathing of immobile patients no significant difference was found in patient-related variables with washing-without-water (www). Therefore, a cross-over trial was developed in a skills-lab setting to compare the effects on quality of www with traditional bed bathing. To gain more insight into process elements, an evaluation was performed alongside the cross-over trial. Aim: The aim was to provide insights into process experiences with first-year students of the Bachelor School of Nursing, who were exposed to the www cross-over trial. Method: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 14 first-year students and two observers. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim into NVivo-11 software. A framework adopted by Saunders (2005) guided data into a thematic approach, in which four compromised process elements were assessed, namely: reach and recruitment, dose delivered and received, context, and fidelity. Results: Main findings show that the recruitment procedure was not successful enough to obtain a required number of students in the trial study. Participated students were satisfied with the constructive design of procedural activities. Students assessed similarities of the skills lab setting within the reality of practice. Conclusion: This process evaluation provides useful information to guide future research into new bathing methods with nursing-students. The complexity can be found in the recruitment of eligible students, effective strategies must be considered within the perception of these younger participants. Recommendations: Improving recruitment can be achieved through research integration into planned school activities with presentations in smaller student groups. Also, the adoption o