Evaluation of nursing students’ work technique after proficiency training in patient transfer methods during undergraduate education

SummaryThe aim of this study was to investigate if nursing students improved their work technique when assisting a simulated patient from bed to wheelchair after proficiency training, and to investigate whether there was a correlation between the nursing students’ work technique and the simulated patients’ perceptions of the transfer. Method: 71 students participated in the study, 35 in the intervention group and 36 in the comparison group. The students assisted a simulated patient to move from a bed to a wheelchair. In the intervention group the students made one transfer before and one after training, and in the comparison group they made two transfers before training. Six variables were evaluated: work technique score; nursing students’ ratings of comfort, work technique and exertion, and the simulated patients’ perceptions of comfort and safety during the transfer. The result showed that nursing students improved their work technique, and that there was a correlation between the work technique and the simulated patients’ subjective ratings of the transfer. In conclusion, nursing students improved their work technique after training in patient transfer methods, and the work technique affected the simulated patients’ perceptions of the transfer.