investigating the effect of electronic learning through social media on the knowledge and performance of nurses regarding tube feeding in icu

Background: updating the knowledge and having the best performance of nurses in the icus, due to their heavy work shifts, requires choosing the appropriate educational method. objectives: this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of e-learning through social media on the knowledge and performance of icu nurses regarding tube feeding. methods: this quasi-experimental study was conducted on 76 icu nurses who were eligible to enter the study and were divided into two intervention and control groups using the random allocation method. the data collection tools included demographic, knowledge level questionnaires, and nurses' performance checklist regarding tube feeding. the intervention group was given 8 sessions of group training using powerpoint and online questions and answers through whatsapp social media. before and two weeks after the training, the questionnaire and checklist of nurses' knowledge and performance were completed. finally, the data was analyzed with spss 22 software. results: the two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic variables (p > 0.05), except for gender. to compare the knowledge score after the intervention, by controlling the confounding effects and the possible effects of the knowledge score before the intervention, analysis of covariance was used. there was a significant difference between the knowledge score of the intervention and control groups after training on whatsapp (p = 0.001). there was no significant difference between the two groups in the mean performance scores before the intervention (p = 0.833). this difference was significant after the intervention (p < 0.001), so that the performance scores of the intervention group were higher than the control group. conclusions: due to nurses' heavy work shifts, the possibility of face-to-face education program is less; learning using social media can lead to an increase in the knowledge and performance of nurses in icu in the field of tube feeding.