Abstract:

Background:
Teaching psychomotor skills —movement-based performances requiring precise, coordinated actions— is central to health professional education. Traditionally, instruction relies on live demonstrations on campus, which allow for direct interaction between students and teacher. However, this has notable constraints: limited visibility, few opportunities for repetition, risk of cognitive overload, and increasing demands on staff time and facilities. Today’s Generation Z students value flexible and self-paced learning. Video demonstrations can address many of the practical and didactic limitations of live sessions by providing consistent, high-quality instruction that learners can pause, replay, and review at their own pace. This raises interesting questions: Do students acquire psychomotor skills more effectively through live or video demonstrations? Furthermore, if video is used, which video perspective —first-person (student perspective) or third-person (teacher perspective)— is most effective for novice learners? Mastering these skills is particularly challenging for first-year nursing and midwifery students, who are considered novices without prior experiential background. Since empirical evidence remains scarce in nursing and midwifery education, these questions form the basis of our ongoing research project (2022–2026).

Objective:
We investigate the learning outcome of video-based learning for teaching psychomotor nursing skills among nursing and midwifery students.

Methods:
We designed demonstration videos of four nursing skills of varying complexity, guided by Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Each video was developed according to evidence-based multimedia principles, addressing the specific challenges of demonstrating complex, step-by-step psychomotor skills. Design considerations focused on minimising extraneous load, maintaining brevity, and ensuring coherence between narration and visuals. To enable empirical comparison, two skills (venepuncture and injection) contrasted live versus video demonstration, while two others (hand disinfection and wound care) compared first-person versus third-person video perspective. A randomised design was used to compare the learning outcomes of first-year nursing and midwifery students’ psychomotor performances across multiple cohorts (2022–2025). Immediately after a standardised live or video demonstration, each consenting student performed the nursing skill on a task trainer in the skills lab. Performances were recorded with two cameras capturing both front and top views. Teachers independently annotated these recordings using a criterion-referenced checklist. Based on the obtained scores, students were ranked to determine learning outcomes and to compare the effects of live versus video, and first-person versus third-person demonstration.

Anticipated contribution:
This study provides empirical evidence on how demonstration modality and video perspective influence the acquisition of psychomotor nursing skills. The findings aim to inform evidence-based design of demonstration videos and guide teachers seeking to integrate video effectively into skills-based curricula in nursing, midwifery, medicine, and other health sciences education. By identifying the conditions under which video demonstrations enhance learning outcomes, this research contributes to optimising teaching strategies for the next generation of health professionals.

Keywords:

Health professional education, psychomotor skills, video-based learning, multimedia principles.