Read, write, and watch: The importance of video learning for nurses

Video learning for nurse training and continuing education has become a vital resource for bridging the gap between theory and practice in the nursing field.  Prepping to assist a surgery, or assembling medical equipment properly is a bit easier when you’ve seen it done before.

Watching a training video on topics like how to perform lab work can help nursing students picture themselves in the context of the hospital situation. Visual education helps nursing students understand the work they will be performing and can be done in a more interactive way than lectures or reading alone.

A study done by the Nurse Education in Practice Journal found that “video education was an effective method for supporting nurse practitioner educational development.” The study focused on the popular clinical skills assessment, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), and the finding that many students were nervous preparing for the exam. Video recordings were chosen as OSCE preparation tools because of their flexibility and ease in reaching large audiences.

Another study by the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing focused on the positive connection between video learning and continuing education. Two-way interactive video (TWIV) is “a presentation mode that allows for two-way audio and video contact between the presenter and participants at different sites.”  It was found that two-way interactive video (TWIV) continuing education courses were more time- and cost-efficient. It’s also an easy way to stay up to date with new techniques or processes.

ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source offers over 1,700 video clips from leading providers, including MedCom, HCPro and Intelecom, that provide coverage of topics like assessment, procedures, anatomy, and more.