The effect of an e-learning module on health sciences students’ venipuncture skill development

Abstract

Introduction Venipuncture is a psychomotor skill required in many healthcare professions. E-learning could be used to overcome current barriers in face-to-face learning in healthcare education such as insufficient classroom space or qualified instructors. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of an e-learning module on students' performance when used in addition to in-class training. Methods Overall, 224 health sciences students were approached to participate in this pilot study. Recruited students were divided into control and study groups. The control group received only in-class training, whereas the study group had access to the e-learning module in addition to in-class learning. Both groups were evaluated on their self-confidence using a Likert scale, academic competence using a multiple-choice questionnaire, and psychomotor competence from video skill recordings using an in-house rubric. Nonparametric, independent sample Mann-Whitney tests were performed to evaluate differences between groups. Results Overall, 114 students provided written informed consent; 84 students (control: n = 50, study: n = 34) participated in at least one component of the study. Significantly higher (p = 0.017) academic competence scores were observed in the study group. Significantly higher confidence levels were also observed postintervention for both the control (p = 0.0025) and study (p = 0.0011) groups; however, no significant differences were found between the study and control groups before (p = 0.441) or after (p = 0.883) intervention. Finally, no significant differences (p = 0.428) were observed for psychomotor skills between the study arms. Conclusion Our results suggest that there is potential for e-learning to increase the academic competence of students when used in conjunction with traditional learning; however, further research is needed to determine its efficacy on psychomotor skills.