Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38654323›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2024

Enhancing clinical reasoning for management of non-communicable diseases: virtual patient cases as a learning strategy for nurses in primary healthcare centers: a pre-post study design.

Gerard Nyiringango, Uno Fors, Elenita Forsberg, David K Tumusiime

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Gerard NyiringangoDepartment of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University, Borgarfjordsgatan 12, PO Box 7003, 164 07, Kista, Sweden. nyiringangogerard@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2097-182X
Uno ForsDepartment of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University, Borgarfjordsgatan 12, PO Box 7003, 164 07, Kista, Sweden.
Elenita ForsbergSchool of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.
David K TumusiimeSchool of Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn Rwanda, nurses manage all primary care at health centres, and therefore are their clinical reasoning skills important. In this study, a web-based software that allows the creation of virtual patient cases (VP cases) has been used for studying the possibility of using VP cases for the continuous professional development of nurses in primary health care in Rwanda. Previous studies in pre-service education have linked VP cases with the enhancement of clinical reasoning, a critical competence for nurses. This study investigated the feasibility of continuous professional development through VP cases to further train in-service nurses in clinical reasoning.

methodThe study used a pre-post test design. Initially, seventy-six participants completed a questionnaire as part of the pre-test phase, subsequently invited to engage with all four VP cases, and finally responded to the post-test questionnaire evaluating clinical reasoning skills. Fifty-six participants successfully completed the entire study process and were considered in the analysis. The primary outcomes of this study were evaluated using a paired t-test for the statistical analysis.

resultsThe results show that the mean score of clinical reasoning increased significantly from the pre-test to the post-test for all four illness areas (p < 0.001). The study findings showed no statistically significant difference in participants' scores based on demographic factors, including whether they worked in urban or rural areas.  CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Utilizing VP cases appears to significantly enhance the continuous professional development of nurses, fostering a deliberate learning process that enables them to reflect on how they manage cases and, in turn, refine their clinical reasoning skills. This study strongly recommends incorporating VP cases in the continuous professional development of nurses at the primary health level (health centers). This is especially pertinent in a context where nurses are required to perform diagnostic processes similar to those employed by physicians.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetenceClinical ReasoningNoncommunicable DiseasesPrimary Health CareAdultEducation, Nursing, ContinuingFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRwandaSurveys and QuestionnairesAssessmentClinical reasoningContinuous professional developmentHealth care providersNursesPre-posttestPrimary health careVirtual case systemVirtual patient cases

Identifiers

PMID38654323
PMCPMC11036556

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.