The Production and Deployment of an On-line Video Learning Bank in a Skills Training Environment

Abstract

Context and Background With the introduction of the pre-registration degree in nursing in Ireland in 2002, the formerly hospital-based schools of nursing amalgamated into larger programmes with their affiliated higher education institutes (HEIs). The result was a considerable increase in class sizes. The current average cohort in the School of Nursing, Dublin City University (DCU) is 240 students. This has resulted in a need to review the way we teach clinical nursing skills on campus. These skills form a large part of the programme and are taught to students in the school-based simulated nursing environment to prepare them for their practical experience in the clinical environment. To date the skills have been taught to groups of 25-30 students using a demonstration and practice technique. This teaching method has posed a number of problems:

• It is highly resource intensive
• Learning experiences vary depending on the mix of demonstration and practice in each session
• It can be difficult for students to absorb all of the information presented in a single demonstration.

It was decided that video technology incorporating a large scale deployment of skills videos over a video web server, in conjunction with a shift in emphasis in the teaching contact sessions could offer a useful tool to aid the teaching process. This paper will discuss the production process, the implementation of the project in the teaching environment and the evaluation findings.