Effectiveness of Educational Hypermedia for Teaching Obstetric Risk Classification: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Medical Technology
• Obstetrics

Background:

• Nursing students often lack essential clinical skills in obstetric risk assessment.
• Innovative educational technologies are needed to improve interactive learning and clinical reasoning.
• Educational hypermedia presents a promising strategy for enhancing nursing education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of educational hypermedia in teaching obstetric risk reception and classification.
• To compare hypermedia-based learning with traditional teaching methods for nursing students.

Main Methods:

• A cluster-randomized clinical trial with 60 third-year nursing students in northeastern Brazil.
• Intervention group used educational hypermedia; control group used traditional methods.
• Knowledge gain measured by pre- and post-intervention tests.

Main Results:

• The hypermedia group showed significantly higher post-test scores (P=.001) with a large effect size (Cohen d=1.131).
• Both groups improved, but the intervention group demonstrated superior knowledge retention.
• Students reported high satisfaction with the hypermedia tool (mean=4.77).

Conclusions:

• Educational hypermedia is an effective complementary tool for traditional nursing education.
• Hypermedia promotes enhanced knowledge retention and stimulates clinical reasoning in obstetrics.
• This technology offers a valuable approach to improving obstetric risk classification skills in nursing students.