Comparison the effect of conventional and distance training on nurses' clinical skills

Aims: Education entails the familiarity with professional duties that should perform practically. The major part of staff's learning includes acquiring information, skills and new ideas in the relevant job. This study was conducted to compare the nurses' clinical skills, after conventional and distance training. Methods: In a semi experimental survey, 60 nurses were selected from one of the hospitals in Tehran in 1386 using the goal-oriented method. After two methods of training, i.e., conventional (lecture) and distance (multimedia CD) methods for evaluation and comparison of nurses' clinical skills the Objective Structured Clinical Exam has been used. After the preparation and validation of evaluating check lists, Objective Structured Clinical Exam stations were designed and then the practical skills of two groups were compared. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15 software, descriptive statistics and independent T-test. Results: No significant difference was observed among the nurses' clinical skills mean scores in training with lecture and multimedia CD (p>0.05). Conclusion: Two methods of training, i.e., lecture and multimedia CD have the same effect in improvement of nurses' clinical skills and Objective Structured Clinical Exam is an effective method in nurses' clinical skills evaluation.