Effect of bedside teaching of Community Health Nursing on nursing students’ practice in vaccination at Albaha University, Saudi Arabia

Background/objective: Traditionally didactic method of teaching has been defined as
scientific way or educational style to engage the student’s mind which mainly focuses on conveying
knowledge to the students. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of bed-side teaching of
community health nursing on nursing students’ practice in vaccination at Albaha University, Saudi
Arabia. Study design: A quasi experimental design was used. All undergraduate nursing students
attended community health nursing subject (30 students) at Albaha University during the academic
year 2020/2021. The students enrolled in the practical part of community health nursing course were
selected; students in first semester (comparison group, 12 students) and students in the second
semester (intervention group, 18 students). Both groups received practical training on vaccination
and vaccine administration with either traditional or bed-side teaching. Students’ practice in
vaccination was assessed through checklist before and after intervention. Data analysis was
conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 22.
Results: The students enrolled in community health nursing scored (56% and 76.3%) in traditional
learning and bed-side teaching respectively (p=0.01). The students enrolled in bed-side teaching
scored significantly higher practice in vaccination than students in traditional teaching; the students
in intervention group were 10.3% higher than score of students in comparison group. Conclusion:
Bed-side teaching is an effective method for teaching community health nursing which improved
the students’ academic practice in vaccination.