Effectiveness of a sequential simulation and online learning intervention on psychiatric mental health nurses'...

To evaluate the effectiveness of a sequential dual-track learning intervention that combined a simulation-based motivational interviewing (MI) workshop with online practice learning in enhancing psychiatric mental health nurses' (PMHNs') knowledge, confidence, and performance in MI for medication adherence.

A parallel cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in four psychiatric hospitals. Participants were allocated to experimental or control groups. The intervention consisted of an 8-hour simulation-based MI workshop followed by a four-month online practice learning phase. Outcomes-MI knowledge, confidence, and skill performance-were assessed at baseline (T0), immediately after the workshop (T1), and after online practice learning (T2). Changes over time were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.

In total, 107 PMHNs completed all three assessments (experimental = 52; control = 55). The sequential dual-track learning intervention produced significant group-by-time effects for knowledge (F (2, 210) = 4.96, p = .011), confidence (F (2, 210) = 4.63, p = .011), and skill performance (F (2, 210) = 41.20, p < .001). The experimental group showed substantially greater gains than the control group at T1, and these gains were observed at T2, with no significant T2-T1 differences despite a small decline in mean skill scores.

The sequential dual-track learning intervention, integrating a simulation-based MI workshop with online practice learning, effectively improved PMHNs' MI knowledge, confidence, and skill performance for medication adherence and provides a flexible, scalable model for evidence-based continuing education in psychiatric nursing.

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06004492 (August 16, 2023).