WEB based nursing diagnosis mobile learning system

Background and Purpose: Nursing diagnoses are critical part of nursing process since they allow determining the required interventions. Studies have shown that nursing students have difficulties with diagnosing process. Mobile learning methods have been chosen as an educational intervention to overcome this difficulty. The primary purpose of this study was to develop web-based training material that can be reached via mobile systems and observe its effects on nursing diagnosing capability. Further, nursing students' opinions and attitudes on the effectiveness of mobile learning have been assessed. Method: The present study was undertaken in three stages. During the first stage, the students' readiness for mobile learning as well as their preferences and attitudes have been assessed. Next, a web-based mobile learning system (nandacepte.org) was developed based on the results of the first stage. The final stage included the assessment of the effectiveness of the system on successful diagnosing via before-after tests and students' opinions and attitudes for the system via online questionnaire, while the students' mobile use behavior, as well as opinions and suggestions on the system have been evaluated thoroughly via focus group interviews Results: Sixty seven per cent of the students stated they were ready for online learning. The learning module that included presentations on 30 nursing diagnoses, concept maps, knowledge tests, scenarios and videos was used for three months. The learning system was most frequently used with mobile phones. There was no difference on any pretest results of the students who used and did not use the system. However, a statistically significant improvement was noted in post-test results of the students who used the mobile learning system (X̄1=%40.36; X̄2=%53.62; p<0.001). The difference in post-test success rate was increased as the frequency of the use of system (r=0.379; p<0.001) and frequency of mobile phone use by the students who use the system (r=0.393; p=0.013). The overall content satisfaction rate of the students was found high. Advantages and disadvantages of the devices used were also determined. Most prominent recommendations included development of mobile application for the system and improvement in forum properties that could allow interaction among users. Conclusion: Mobile learning has been useful for nursing diagnosis training. Success in mobile learning projects can be improved with the recommendations provided in this study. Key Words: mobile learning, nursing diagnosis training, mobile technologies, opinions and attitudes