The effect of computer based simulation system designed for subcutaneous drug application skills on the students anxiety levels and psychomotor skills performance

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: It is stated that computer-based simulation systems have positive contributions to the education process with features such as creating a learning environment for students by integrating knowledge and skills. In this study, it has been aimed to investigate the effect of computer based simulation system, designed to give subcutaneous drug application skills in nursing education, on the performances of subcutaneous injection application skills of students and the anxiety levels of actual patients during subcutaneous injection. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The research, which was conducted in semi-experimental design with control (n: 70) and response (n: 70) groups, was conducted between February and May 2017. In the study, firstly the simulation system was designed, the students in the control group carried out the skill performance trainings in the traditional way and the students in the response group carried it out with the newly designed simulation system. The data of the research were collected by using "Individual Description Form," "State-Trait Anxiety Scale", "Skill Performance List for Subcutaneous Drug Application", ""Visual Comparison Scale". Percentile, frequency, Mann Whitney U Test were used in the analysis of the data. FINDINGS: It has been determined that the subcutaneous injection skill performance examination score average (47.62 ± 4,37) of students in the response group were significantly higher than the average score (35,50±6,11) of the students in the control group where the traditional method was used (p <0.05). In addition, it has been determined that the average score of the state anxiety scale of the students in the response group 30,25 ± 6,66 and the score of the state anxiety scale of the students in the control group 34.85 ± 8.73 are significantly low. In addition, the average score of the satisfaction regarding the simulation method used in the skill training of the response group students was found to be 9,60 ± 0,92 out of 10. CONCLUSION: As a result of the research, it was concluded that the newly designed simulation system has a positive effect on the skill performance and anxiety of the students. Keywords: Virtual Reality and Haptic Systems, Augmented Reality, Nursing Education, Psychomotor Skills, Subcutan Injection.