THE EFFECT OF DIRECT OBSERVATION OF PROCEDURAL SKILLS (DOPS) METHOD ON THE CLINICAL PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION OF NURSING STUDENTS IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

Background & Aim: Using the best evaluation method is particularly important for students in intensive care lession. In this regard, direct observation of practical skills is one of the new clinical evaluation methods that allow students to receive constructive feedback. This study aimed to determine the effect of evaluation through direct observation of procedural skills on clinical performance and satisfaction of nursing students in intensive care units. Materials & Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 64 nursing students studying in the 7th semester of bachelor's degree in Urmia nursing school. Students were randomly divided into intervention (32 individuals; 15 male students and 17 female students) and control (32 individuals; 13 male students and 19 female students) groups. In the intervention group, the evaluation was performed by direct observation of procedural skilling methods including dressing change, intravenous (IV) line insertion, and suctioning activities of students on the first day, one week later, and two weeks later. In all three stages of the evaluation, students gave feedback for fifteen minutes. In the control group, evaluation was performed by the logbook method. In both groups, standard checklists were provided to the students. SPSS software version 19 and Student T-test and repeated measures analysis of variance were used in data analysis. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: The final score of the dressing change in the intervention group was higher than the control group (P <0.001). Students in the intervention group had also higher final IV-line insertion and suctioning scores than the control group (P <0.001).Furthermore, in the intervention group, the score of direct observation of procedural skills for dressing change, IV-line insertion, and suctioning increased significantly from the first to the third stage (P <0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that students evaluated by direct observation of procedural skills method achieved a higher score than students evaluated by the logbook method. Hence, instructors and clinical professors can use direct observation of practical skills as an effective method in evaluating and learning nursing students, especially in the intensive care unit.