A cinenurducation activity using Call the Midwife to teach about sexually transmitted infections and preeclampsia: design, implementation, and assessment

Abstract

BackgroundNursing students need to learn about sexually transmitted infections and preeclampsia. Cinenureducation is a rigorous method that uses materials from commercial movies or television series to teach health sciences students. ObjectivesUsing content analysis of the television series Call the Midwife, design a cinenureducation activity teaching nursing students about sexually transmitted infections and preeclampsia. Evaluate its effectiveness in knowledge acquisition. Design, implementation, and pre-post assessment of knowledge gain for teaching activitiesThe study comprised three main steps: designing the teaching activity, implementing it, and analyzing its pedagogical effectiveness through a pre-and-post study to assess knowledge acquisition resulting from the teaching activity. ParticipantsA six-member panel assessed the suitability of materials for the teaching goals. All second-year undergraduate nursing students in the course “Nursing management and leadership” at a nursing school in the 2022–2023 academic year were invited to participate (N = 160). MethodsThe panel conducted a content analysis of the first two seasons of the series to determine the usefulness of each episode for teaching the chosen topics. Students were randomly assigned to groups watching episodes emphasizing either sexually transmitted infections or preeclampsia, followed by discussion. Learning was gauged through a pre-post viewing 20-question multiple-choice test. Additionally, students' satisfaction was evaluated. ResultsA total of 142 nursing students participated. Significant differences between mean scores before and after intervention were found [6.90 vs. 6.42 on the preintervention assessment, p < 0.05; mean gain, 0.49 (95 % CI: 0.22–0.76)]. Most students were satisfied with the activity. ConclusionsThe activity was useful for teaching about sexually transmitted infections and preeclampsia. The use of a television series portraying nurses enables the exploration of these critical topics. This has potential implications for integrating similar methods into nurse education curricula, emphasizing the broader impact of the research on pedagogical practices in healthcare education.