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Effectiveness of virtual training on nursing students’ intentions to engage in evidence-based practice: a case study in Iran

BMC Health Services Research volume 25, Article number: 650 (2025) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Evidence-based Practice (EBP) is essential for improving the quality of care, patient outcomes, and the cost-effectiveness of healthcare services. Curricula and innovative teaching methods, such as virtual education, should be strongly emphasized to foster nursing students’ intentions to engage in the EBP process. This study investigated the effect of a virtual training program on nursing students’ intentions to engage in EBP.

Methods

This interventional study included 79 nursing students in the sixth and eighth semesters of the School of Nursing who had completed courses in nursing research and nursing information technology and had started their clinical training. A virtual training program on the intentions to engage in EBP was delivered through a website in the form of one module during a week. Questionnaires on demographic information and the Persian version of Intentions to Engage in EBP Process, originally developed by Rubin and Parrish (2010), were used to collect data before the intervention and one month later. Data were collected from March to April 2023 and analyzed using SPSS (version 21). Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent samples t-test, paired t-test, chi-square test and analysis of covariance) were used. A significance level of ≤ 0.05 was utilized.

Results

Prior to the intervention, an independent t-test revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.15). However, post-intervention results indicated a statistically significant difference (p = 0.03), with the intervention group reporting higher intentions to engage in EBP (44.62 ± 3.67) compared to the control group (36.56 ± 3.53), demonstrating the effectiveness of the educational program. A paired t-test confirmed that the improvement within the intervention group was statistically significant (p = 0.02), whereas the change observed in the control group was not (p = 0.06).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated a change in undergraduate nursing students’ intentions to engage in EBP following virtual training. Based on these findings, health policymakers, planners, and healthcare providers should prioritize strategies that empower and equip nursing students with EBP competencies to effectively implement EBP in their future professional practice.

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Introduction

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an approach to solving clinical care problems by taking into account the best available evidence from valid and well-designed studies, clinicians’ experience, patient-care information, as well as patients’ values and priorities [1]. The use of EBP allows for the provision of effective and efficient care in nursing [2]. It also enhances healthcare quality, empowers nurses in clinical decision-making, and reduces variations in care and associated healthcare costs [3, 4].

To apply EBP, nurses need skills beyond the necessary skills to understand scientific research evidence. Nurses also need to gain perception about their patients and the factors affecting the health care settings [2]. Patient care development is determined by competent nursing graduates who incorporate EBP with the new changes happening in health care. As a result, EBP competency is required for nursing students at the bachelor’s level of education [5]. The successful integration of EBP into clinical care is a multi-step process that begins with the formation of intention. In this regard, the intention to engage in EBP, defined as students’ motivation and psychological readiness to participate in essential steps of EBP, including evidence searching, critical appraisal, and application in clinical care. This intention is considered a key predictor of future EBP implementation and is influenced by individual factors such as attitudes and capability beliefs, as well as contextual elements like educational methods, institutional support, and access to information resources [6].

Concerning this, there is a need for a change in the nursing curriculum and the use of technology in learning to integrate computer competency and information literacy in nursing education [7]. It is imperative as well for nurse educators to design educational frameworks considering EBP in undergraduate nursing students to bring enormous changes by integrating EBP into patient care [1, 8]. The EBP competencies can be incorporated into nursing education via different strategies. Nurse educators can train EBP using various strategies including discussions, social media, learning modules, simulations, learning through games, virtual education as well as workshops and educational sessions [2]. Virtual learning is a comprehensive term with multiple interpretations [9, 10]. One study describes virtual education as teaching in an environment where the teacher and student are separated by time, space, or both. Course materials are delivered using IT tools, multimedia resources, the Internet, videoconferencing, and similar technologies. Virtual learning can take three forms: synchronous online training, which involves real-time learning; asynchronous online training, where learners can access materials and complete activities on their schedule, allowing for flexibility in pace and timing; and hybrid online training, combining in-person and online methods [11]. All these strategies contribute equally to helping the students to use EBP [2].

Researchers demonstrated that effective implementation of EBP required the ability to develop appropriate research questions, search and appraise pertinent literature critically, and then evaluate the applicability of research evidence in clinical practice. Inadequate understanding of EBP steps along with deficient of critical appraisal, and advanced literature search skills may cause negative attitudes toward EBP and result in the limited application or no intention to EBP. In addition, the intention to EBP may be related to the nursing education level and the combination of EBP in nursing education curricula [12,13,14]. Therefore, nurse educators should employ educational strategies in nursing education that considerably facilitate the conversion of evidence into clinical nursing practice [15].

Although undergraduate nursing students can be acquainted with EBP to some extent, they do not have received the necessary EBP competencies during their studentships. While EBP has gained attention and been gradually introduced in Iran in recent years, its narrow intention scope is undeniable. In other words, the healthcare sector is still characterized by limited EBP application and a scarcity of studies on EBP-oriented educational programs [5, 16]. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of an asynchronous online training program on nursing students’ intention to engage in EBP.

Materials and methods

Study design and setting

This interventional study employed a pretest–posttest control group design and was conducted at the Nursing School affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences in southeastern Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. In Iran, the bachelor’s degree in nursing consists of both theoretical and practical courses delivered over eight semesters (four years) in universities and affiliated teaching hospitals. At the time of this study, the undergraduate nursing curriculum included 1.5 credits of “Research in Nursing” (34 h in the third semester) and one credit of “Information Technology in Nursing” (26 h in the first semester).

Sampling

All undergraduate nursing students (N = 136) in the sixth and eighth semesters were included in the study. A sample size of 80 participants was calculated using the sample size formula for comparing two independent means, based on a 95% confidence level, 90% power, and data from a similar study [17]. Participants were recruited using a stratified random sampling method with equal proportions from each of the semesters. Meanwhile, the number of students in the sixth and eighth semesters was almost equal, two separate lists of nursing students were prepared. Using a random number Table, 40 students from each semester were selected and equally divided into intervention and control groups. In total, 80 participants were dedicated to the intervention and control groups (40 students in the intervention group and 40 students in the control group). The inclusion criteria consisted of nursing students who passed courses in nursing research and information technology in nursing and started their clinical training. Exclusion criteria for students include failure to complete the questionnaire and transferring to or being a guest student at other faculties. Ultimately, 79 students completed the questionnaire, while one student in the intervention group did not finish the course (response rate = 98.75%).

Measurement tools

Two instruments were used in this study for data collection. The first one was about the nursing students’ demographic information including age, gender, marital status, the experience of student work in clinical settings, attendance at nursing research courses, and attendance at computer skills courses.

The second instrument used in this study was the EBP Process Assessment Scale, developed by Rubin and Parrish in 2010, which was designed to measure various aspects of engagement with the EBP process. The scale consists of 51 items across five sections. In this study, only the section titled ‘Intentions to Engage in the EBP Process,’ which contains 10 items, was used based on its Persian version previously translated and validated for use in Iran (Additional file 1). The items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale from one (Never) to five (Very often). Scores on this scale range from 10 to 50, and higher scores mean greater intention. The content validity of the original scale has been confirmed using three methods including a panel of experts, construct validity, and factor analysis. Internal consistency has been used to confirm the reliability of the scale and its Cronbach’s alpha coefficient has been 0.94 [18].

For the Persian version of the selected section, acceptable face validity and Content Validities Index (CVI = 0.98), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.75), and stability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC] = 0.74) were reported [5].

Data collection

Participants completed anonymous and electronic questionnaires. Participants were identified using a unique code, which they entered in the questionnaire. Data were collected from March to April 2023. WhatsApp groups were created for both the intervention and control groups and all e-mail addresses of students have been received. To collect data, a link to the questionnair was sent via e-mails and WhatsApp groups during the pre-test (before the course) and post-test stages (one month after the course).

Intervention procedure

Literature studies were performed to develop the training program content [19,20,21,22,23,24]. The training program content was presented in Table 1. The educational content, designed by researchers for the intervention group, was uploaded as a single module on a dedicated website, and was accessible for one week. The duration of the educational content was 8 hours. Materials provided in the forms of audio files, PowerPoint slides, video tutorials, textual assistance, hands-on exercise, and question and answer. Students were required to engage in self-directed study of course materials, practice exercises, and discuss issues via E-mail or WhatsApp. A username and password have been provided for the intervention group to utilize the educational content available on the website designed for asynchronously online learning. The educational website link was provided for the intervention group through the communication channels and accessed the website for a week at any time and place using the assigned passwords. The intervention group was explicitly informed that they were part of the intervention group and were instructed not to share any information with the control group to prevent potential contamination between the groups. Each student may have spent different amounts of time learning the educational content. Reminder messages were sent via WhatsApp and SMS to encourage the use of the website and announce the course deadline. The control group was not included in this program. Before the intervention, to ensure similarity, both study groups were provided with equivalent conditions.

Table 1 Main topics presented in the course
Full size table

Data analysis

The data were analyzed by SPSS 21, descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (independent samples t-test, paired t-test, and chi -square, and analysis of covariance). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test determined that the data followed a normal distribution. A significance level of ≤ 0.05 was utilized.

Results

The mean ages of nursing students in the intervention and control groups were 23.31 ± 3.79 and 22.15 ± 4.46 years, respectively. Most of the students in intervention and control groups were female (53.80%, 32.50%), single (71.80%, 85.00%) with experience of student work in clinical settings (61.50%, 55.00%), and most of them did not attend at nursing research courses (57.9%, 75%) and computer skills courses (71.80%, 70.00%). No significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups in demographic and professional information (Table 2).

Table 2 Comparison of demographic and professional information of the nursing students between the intervention and control groups
Full size table

Results showed that prior to the intervention, an independent t-test revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.15). However, post-intervention results indicated a statistically significant difference (p = 0.03), with the intervention group reporting higher intentions to engage in EBP (44.62 ± 3.67) compared to the control group (36.56 ± 3.53), demonstrating that the training program significantly improved the intention to engage in EBP in the intervention group. A paired t-test confirmed that the improvement within the intervention group was statistically significant (p = 0.02), whereas the change observed in the control group was not (p = 0.06) (Table 3).

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to assess the influence of pre-test scores and demographic variables on the intention to engage in EBP. The results indicated that neither the pre-test scores nor the demographic variables had a statistically significant effect on EBP intention (p > 0.05). These findings further support the results reported in Table 3.

Table 3 Comparison of the mean scores of the intention to engage in EBP between intervention and control groups at pre and post-test
Full size table

Discussion

The findings of this study demonstrated that the training program significantly increased the intention to engage in EBP among students in the intervention group compared to those in the control group. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of training programs in adopting EBP [17, 25,26,27,28]. Ifinedo in a study found that nurses who were more aware of computer skills had a more positive view of EBP in the workplace [29]. Zhang et al. showed that a self-directed learning approach during clinical practice significantly improved EBP competencies and independent learning ability in undergraduate nursing students [30].

In the UK, Hadley et al. held a clinically comprehensive e-learning course among postgraduate medical trainees to teach them the main EBP. Later, they compared the findings with a conventional lecture-based course of equivalent content. Their findings showed that the e-learning course of EBP was at the same level of efficiency as the standard lecture-based course in improving the individuals’ knowledge [26]. Fernandez et al. compared some teaching approaches with regard to the postgraduate nursing students’ knowledge and skills about EBP. The participants received education through different teaching methods including the traditional method, computer laboratory, EBP-Digital Video Disc, or didactic classroom. They achieved a significant advancement in cognitive and technical EBP skills of the postgraduate nursing students followed by incorporating an EBP-DVD educational resource [31]. A systematic review showed that educational interventions enhanced various EBP domains, including knowledge, skills, attitudes/behaviors, beliefs, use, practice, level of evidence, critical thinking, and future application of EBP [32].

Shamsaee et al. in a study used a online education program on information literacy competency for EBP and indicated that knowledge about search operators and information-seeking skills were improved in nursing students. This program did not improve the use of different information resources and the development of search strategies in the students. They suggested that nurse instructors should pay attention to the models and educational design in different formats to achieve educational goals and augmentation of nursing students’ competency for EBP [33].

Lovu indicated that familiarity with EBP significantly predicted students’ intentions to engage in the EBP process upon graduation, suggesting that knowledge and exposure play a critical role [34].

Similarly, Ramis et al. demonstrated that beliefs about EBP have a direct and significant influence on the intention to use it, highlighting the importance of attitudinal factors in shaping future engagement [35]. In line with these findings, the current study showed an increase in students’ intention to engage in EBP following the educational intervention. This supports the notion that targeted education can effectively enhance both cognitive and motivational components underlying students’ intention to use EBP.

Following new approaches in education, continuous quality improvement requires the ongoing evaluation of educational programs and the identification of university students’ perceptions and expectations regarding the implementation of EBP. Students, employees, faculty members, community members, and industry partners are among the main stakeholders in higher education. Students -as the primary stakeholders- can significantly influence the adoption of EBP through their attitudes and intentions to improve service quality. Analyzing the gap between students’ expectations and perceptions of educational services can support the development of effective strategies aimed at enhancing service quality. The learning environment is a key determinant of student behavior and is closely linked to their academic achievement, satisfaction, success, and intention to engage in EBP. Accordingly, assessing various aspects of the learning environment can promote the improvement of educational services and inform curriculum development, ultimately fostering students’ intention to use EBP in their future roles as health professionals [36].

Limitations

This study had several limitations. It was conducted in a single setting affiliated with a medical university in Iran, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings to other contexts. Additionally, there were no baseline data available regarding students’ prior engagement with evidence-based practice (EBP), limiting the ability to compare changes over time. The evaluation of the virtual educational program was also limited to one month post-intervention; longer follow-up periods of 3 to 6 months are recommended to better assess the sustained impact of the training. Furthermore, while it was confirmed that students downloaded the materials and submitted their responses to the exercises, the actual depth of their engagement with the content could not be determined. This suggests a basic level of participation, but the extent of meaningful interaction remains unclear.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated a positive change in undergraduate nursing students’ intention to engage in EBP following virtual education. It is recommended that nursing lecturers and educators incorporate a blend of virtual, student-centered, and teacher-centered approaches when teaching EBP. Additionally, nurse educators should be empowered and equipped with EBP competencies to effectively support undergraduate nursing students in applying EBP as they tsransition into professional practice.

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

EBP:

Evidence based practice

CVI:

Content validities index

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

PICO:

Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome

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Acknowledgements

The researchers appreciate all the nursing students who generously dedicated their time to participate in the study.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Technology Assessment, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Fatemeh Falahati-Marvast

  2. Research Center for Health Technology Assessment and Medical Informatics, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Fatemeh Falahati-Marvast

  3. Reproductive and Family Health Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Amirreza Sabzi

  4. Physiology Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Mehri Lotfalizadeh

  5. Nursing Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Jamileh Farokhzadian

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Contributions

FFM, AS, ML, and JF contributed to conceiving and designing the research. The data were collected, analyzed, and interpreted by FFM and JF. FFM, AS, ML, and JF contributed equally to writing and revising the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jamileh Farokhzadian.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This manuscript was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran (the code of ethics No IR.KMU.REC.1398.115). At the request of the Ethical committee, the study adhered to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and Ethics Publication on Committee (COPE). Informed consent was obtained from course participants two weeks before the program. The participants were informed that they could withdraw from the study at all stages with no adverse consequences. Moreover, they ensured the confidentiality of information.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Falahati-Marvast, F., Sabzi, A., Lotfalizadeh, M. et al. Effectiveness of virtual training on nursing students’ intentions to engage in evidence-based practice: a case study in Iran. BMC Health Serv Res 25, 650 (2025). https://doiorg.publicaciones.saludcastillayleon.es/10.1186/s12913-025-12818-2

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