Effect of a Blended Learning Program on Healthcare-Associated Infection Diagnostic Efficiency Among Infection Control Ward Nurses
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Abstract
Objective: To compare the healthcare-associated infection (HAI) diagnostic efficiency of infection control ward nurses in an experimental group before and after participating in a blended learning program, and between groups. Methods: A quasi-experimental two-group pretest-posttest design was employed. Participants were infection control ward nurses equally allocated to an experimental group and a control group (n = 25 per group). The research instruments comprised: 1) a four week blended learning program for HAI diagnosis, and 2) a diagnostic record form based on simulated clinical scenarios. The content validity was established through review by six experts. The diagnostic record form yielded an interrater reliability with Cohen's kappa = 1.00 when evaluated among infection control nurses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Within-group differences in HAI diagnostic performance were examined using paired samples t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, while between-group comparisons were conducted using the independent samples t-test and the Mann–Whitney U test. Results: Following program completion,the experimental group showed statistically significant increases in HAI diagnostic accuracy from 58.00% to 82.25% (p < .001), sensitivity from 53.71% to 80.57% (p < .001), specificity from 88.00% to 94.00% (p = .180), and positive predictive value from 96.91% to 98.89% (p = .093). The experimental group’s outcomes following program completion were significantly superior to those of the control group (p < .001). Conclusion: The findings indicate that the blended learning program can be applied to enhance knowledge and improve HAI diagnostic efficiency among infection control ward nurses in similar healthcare settings.
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