Intimate partner violence or domestic abuse is a societal issue that affects not only individual victims but also communities and families. It is defined as any psychological, physical, sexual or economic abuse between intimate partners such as those dating, formerly dating or married. In the United States, 2.9 million men and 4.8 million women report sexual or physical abuse by an intimate partner annually (WHO, 2012). The World Health Organization in conjunction with the United States government has made the reduction of this menace a priority. Nurses play a considerable role in this initiative as they are in charge of screening for IPV in health care settings. Consequently, it is imperative to examine the void in training nurses on assessment and treatment of IPV.
Regardless of geographical location or specialty health practitioners will encounter IPV cases. As such, educational guidelines identify supplemental clinical experiences and didactic content that will enable nurses to deal with domestic abuse efficiently. Nurses often lack adequate training on IPV during their primary nursing education (Kamimura et al., 2015). Transformative learning theory proposed by Jack Mezirow explains the how learning transforms opinions and knowledge of individuals. According to Mezirow, this takes place in nine stages whereby the learner utilizes discourse and critical reflection to examine information, skills, perspectives, and roles (Phillipi, 2010). The theoretical framework is used in comparing online stimulated and instructor-led teaching models.
A research study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a stimulated board game and lecture system in administering IPV knowledge to nurses. Consistent with the study, the difference in short-term knowledge retention between the two modes is similar. Also, long-term knowledge retention of participants using either lecture or stimulated board games remained equal. Students often prefer the use of web based programmes (Wallace, 2013). Although the board game does not considerably surpass the lecture model, numerous experts believe that the exercise exerts a delayed effect resulting in better knowledge retention (Maloney et al., 2011). Knowledge retention favoring the web-based program is often observed within fourteen days after the game was played but later disappears due to memory decline.
Interactive methods of educating healthcare professionals often prove to be more productive compared to other modes of teaching (McCoy, 2016). For instance, the online stimulated group felt better prepared and ready to handle IPV patients compared to the instructor-led lecturing group. Moreover, both factions increased their opinion scores on legal requirements, self-efficacy, and work place issues (Wallace, 2013). The increased ratings were an indication that both teams developed a better understanding of the IPV. However, significant evidence was not found to prove that one teaching method improved overall learning scores.
The study’s results do not lessen the importance of teaching strategies and methods in student learning. For many years, lectures have been used as the most preferred method in nursing education. Nonetheless, through advancements in technology nursing educators are optimistic about the use of stimulation to complement or in replacement of lectures. Based on such developments, a study was carried out to establish the effectiveness of online stimulation and lecture models in conveying knowledge of intimate partner violence. Findings of the research study suggested that statistical difference in knowledge levels between the two methods of teaching were non-existent. Nevertheless, the results of the study have considerable implication on the future of nursing education. The data proves that stimulation is a viable tactic for nursing educators to use in conjunction with instructor-based models.
- Kamimura, A., Al-Obaydi, S., Nguyen, H., Trinh, H. N., Mo, W., Doan, P., & Franchek-Roa, K. (2015). Intimate partner violence education for medical students in the USA, Vietnam and China. Public health, 129(11), 1452-1458.
- Maloney, S., Haas, R., Keating, J. L., Molloy, E., Jolly, B., Sims, J., … & Haines, T. (2011). Effectiveness of Web-based versus face-to-face delivery of education in prescription of falls-prevention exercise to health professionals: randomized trial. Journal of medical Internet research, 13(4).
- McCoy, L., Lewis, J. H., & Dalton, D. (2016). Gamification and multimedia for medical education: a landscape review. Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 116(1), 22-34.
- Phillipi, J. (2010). Transformative learning in healthcare. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 19, 39-54.
- Wallace, C. L. (2013). Violence education: An analysis of instructional methods used to teach nursing students about intimate partner violence (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).
- World Health Organization. (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women: Intimate partner violence.