Effects of mobile learning for nursing students in clinical education: A meta-analysis. (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Bin; Wang, Yan; Xiao, Lei; Xu, Changxia; Shen, Yuan; Qin, Qin; Li, Cheng; Chen, Fengqin; Leng, Yufei; Yang, Ting; Sun, Zhiling
• Is Part Of: Nurse education today. Volume 97(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: Mobile learning -- Meta-analysis -- Clinical education -- Nursing; Nursing -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Education, Nursing -- Periodicals; Soins infirmiers -- Étude et enseignement -- Périodiques; Nursing -- Study and teaching; Periodicals; 610.7307
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104706
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-6917

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the effects of mobile learning for nursing students in clinical nursing education. Five electronic databases including PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and Web of Science were searched for English language articles published on or before February 10, 2020. Two reviewers retrieved articles, evaluated quality and extracted data independently. Review Manager (RevMan) version 5.3 software was used to perform meta-analysis. A total of 9 studies including 580 nursing students receiving clinical nursing education met the inclusion criteria. The mobile learning intervention led to significant improvements in nursing students' skills (SMD = 1.22, 95% CI [0.29, 2.14], P = 0.009), knowledge (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI [0.11, 0.76], P = 0.009), satisfaction (SMD = 0.31, 95% CI [0.05, 0.56], P = 0.020), and confidence (SMD = 0.4, 95% CI [0.16, 0.63], P < 0.001) compared with the control group. Due to differences in experimental design among studies and limited data availability, we cautiously conclude that mobile learning has a beneficial effect on clinical nursing education for nursing students compared with conventional methods. Highlights: What is already known about this topic? Mobile learning is popular in nursing education. Students may study at anytime and anywhere with the help of mobile devices The effects of mobile learning in nursing student education have been controversial. What this paper adds? We performed the first meta-analysis by investigating the effects of mobile learning interventions on nursing students' skills, knowledge, satisfaction, and confidence. Mobile learning was proven to be effective in improving clinical nursing students' skills, knowledge, satisfaction, and confidence significantly. Mobile learning will likely play an increasingly important role in clinical nursing education because of advantages such as no limitations in time and space, easy acquisition of learning materials, and self-directed studying The implications of this paper: Mobile learning may be a complementary teaching method in clinical nursing education. Research on the application of mobile learning in clinical nursing education is scarce due to the limited number of studies that have examined mobile learning in nursing education. We argue that future studies of single mobile devices such as smartphones and studies using multi-lingual platforms are needed to confirm our findings.