The Effect of Web-based and Simulation-based Education on Midwifery Student's Self-Confidence in Postpartum Hemorrhage Management

Self-confidence, as one of the key elements of clinical competence, plays an important role in one’s actions and behaviours. Selection of proper instructional methods influences students’ self-confidence. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of web-based training and educational simulation on midwifery students’ self-confidence in postpartum hemorrhage management. This experimental study was conducted on 44 midwifery students of Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad, Iran, in 2013. The subjects were selected via convenience sampling. The web-based group was trained at the clinical skill laboratory of School of Nursing and Midwifery; both groups were taught the same educational content. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, visual analogue scale to evaluate students'' self-assessment of their ability to manage postpartum hemorrhage and C-scale to measure students'' self-confidence Descriptive analysis, independent t-test, paired t-test, and two-way ANOVA were performed, using SPSS version 11.5. Both groups showed a significant increase in self-confidence in postpartum hemorrhage management one month after the training (P=0.003 and P=0.030 in web-based and simulation groups, respectively). No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of self-confidence in postpartum hemorrhage management. Since the two groups showed no significance difference in self-confidence, web-based education, which is a more accessible method, could be applied as an alternative to the conventional method of simulation.