Abstract:

Background:
One of the primary goals of an undergraduate nursing curriculum is to equip nurses with practical skills, ensuring their readiness for clinical practice. However, a common source of stress and anxiety among nursing students is the lack of preclinical preparation in handling technical equipment and performing procedures on patients.
While practical skill training is essential, it is also resource-intensive and time-consuming, demanding extensive teaching resources. Furthermore, in today’s digital era, the “digital generation” is comfortable with new technology and expects flexibility and digital tools in their learning process. Mobile devices have become nearly ubiquitous worldwide, seamlessly integrated into people’s lives as extensions of themselves. To address practical learning challenges, we have developed an interactive learning app focused on repetitive practical skill training for essential nursing procedures. The project received funding from Erasmus+ (Digisim 2017–2020) and was a collaborative effort involving the University of Stavanger, University of Nottingham, and the Catholic University of Valencia.

Presentation of Digisim Nurse Training app:
The Digisim Nurse Training app can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store or Google Play (https://apps.apple.com/no/app/digisim-nurse-training/id1500241710). It is possible to choose a Spanish, English, or Norwegian version that adheres to the guidelines for each country and it can be used both online and offline. The training app offers users repetitive and accurate training of clinical skills, in collaboration with peers or alone. The app addresses various essential nursing procedures, including subcutaneous and intramuscular injection, wound care, tracheostomy care, and female catheterizations. Each scenario uses four sections to enhance students’ skills training: demonstration films, equipment lists, interactive checklists, and audio. The app includes four distinct different sections, each offering training in various approaches to learning the same procedure. These sections are as follows:
1. Preparing for the procedure: A short film demonstrating the steps in the procedure Equipment
2. Equipment: A checklist of all equipment needed to perform the procedure
3. Peer-student training: An interactive checklist providing scores for correct step performance monitored by peer students.
4. Individual "flow and speed" training; An interactive checklist providing scores for correct step performance monitored by peer students.

The Digisim app was developed based on the theoretical principles of the Practical Skill Performance Model. This model consists of six mutually dependent categories: substance, sequence, accuracy, fluency, integration, and caring comportment. The Digisim nurse training app focuses on the first three layers in the model: substance and sequence, accuracy, and fluency.

Nursing students’ perceptions:
Insights from focus group interviews conducted with second-year Norwegian nursing students during their nurse education program have illuminated their perceptions. The students express that utilizing the application enhances their confidence as they transition into clinical practice. They exhibit a sense of trust in the app's accuracy and value its accessibility and succinctness. Nevertheless, they emphasize that while the app serves as a valuable resource, it should complement rather than supplant the guidance provided by their instructors.

Keywords:

Nurse education, skill training, digital learning.