NURSING-STUDENTS BLOOD-PRESSURE MEASUREMENT FOLLOWING CD-ROM AND CONVENTIONAL CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION - A PILOT-STUDY

This paper describes a pilot investigation of first year nursing stude nts' adherence to the recommended auscultatory blood pressure measurem ent procedure following three different forms of instruction; conventi onal classroom demonstration of the technique, a self instructional CD -ROM tutorial program, and a combination of both methods. This investi gation was carried out over a 5-day time period using 27 students duri ng normal teaching time. Students' adherence to the procedure was dete rmined by observation using a performance checklist. Results suggest t hat the CD-ROM is no substitute for real life, hands on experience, al though when used as an adjunct to traditional teaching methods, it can enhance learning. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights r eserved.