Teaching Nursing Students the Importance of Treatment Fidelity in Intervention Research: Students as Interventionists

Treatment fidelity is the extent to which a study team adheres to the dictates of a study protocol. It ensures that the intervention has been implemented as intended. Including and monitoring treatment fidelity reduces threats to validity and is vital to providing reputable, sound research.

This article describes specific measures taken to teach nursing students the key concepts and methodologic issues associated with treatment fidelity in intervention research studies through active learning. Twelve senior-level nursing students participated as interventionists in a study that spanned 4 months.

Treatment fidelity strategies included development of a manual, proper training and supervision of interventionists, a follow-up meeting with the interventionists, checklists, and a controller.

The treatment fidelity strategies implemented throughout the study provided an opportunity for students to learn firsthand how such strategies are implemented and how they strengthened the confidence that study findings are indeed related to the intervention. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(5):288-291.].