effect of simulation-based medical education in small groups on improving the quality of nursing care in patients under electroconvulsive therapy

Background: considering the high risk and vital nature of electroconvulsive therapy (ect) process, as well as the subsequent intensive, essential, and life-saving cares, it is necessary to promote the skills of nurses providing this kind of care. objectives: this study aimed to determine the effect of simulation on developing the quality of care in nurses working in the ect department. methods: this experimental study compared two groups before and after the intervention. fifty nurses who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into two groups of intervention and control. low-tech (static) task trainer was used for simulationbased medical education (sbme) in the intervention group. data were collected using a checklist to investigate the quality of nursing care before and after the intervention. results: the mean scores obtained from initial preparation subscales, preparation of tools and equipment, measures during ect, post-ect measures, and checking patient’s status in pre-test and post-test in the intervention group were significantly different. this suggests that simulation intervention in small groups is effective in improving the quality of nursing care in ect (p < 0.05). conclusions: our results showed that promoting ect nursing care knowledge among the nurses in small groups by simulation method is an effective intervention.