the effect of near-peer-assisted learning on self-efficacy and clinical performance of undergraduate nursing students during clinical internship: a quasi-experimental study

Background & objective: traditional clinical education methods have not been effective in improving students' clinical performance. implementing near-peer assisted learning could help address many of the challenges nursing students encounter in their pursuit of effective learning.this study aims to determine the effect of near-peer-assisted learning on self-efficacy and clinical performance of nursing students during clinical internships.materials & methods: this study utilized a quasi-experimental design with a post-test control group. the statistical population included all nursing students participating in clinical internships at jahrom university of medical sciences from 2021 to 2023, totaling 93 students selected through a census method. the intervention group, comprised of 52 students, participated in near-peer assisted learning, while the control group of 41 students received traditional instruction from university instructors. students' self-efficacy was evaluated using the standard self-efficacy in the clinical performance questionnaire; thus, clinical performance was assessed using the objective structured clinical examination (osce) scores at the end of each period. data analysis was performed using spss 22, the t-test for mean score comparisons, and chi-square test for qualitative data.results: the mean self-efficacy scores were 139.16 ± 0.57 and 109.65 ± 0.89 for the intervention and control groups in post-test, respectively. the mean osce scores were 5.09 ± 0.29 and 4.85 ± 0.76 for the intervention and control in post-test. the independent t-test revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean self-efficacy scores between the two groups (p < 0.001, effect size = 0.95). however, no significant difference was found in the mean osce scores between the groups (p = 0.061, effect size = 0.43).conclusion: the near-peer assisted learning method has a more significant impact on the self-efficacy of nursing students during clinical internships compared to traditional teaching methods. furthermore, this approach can be as effective as instructor-led training in enhancing students' clinical performance. therefore, it is recommended to integrate this method with other educational approaches to further improve clinical performance among nursing students.