ACTA FAC MED NAISS 2019;36(1):69-78

Original article

UDC: 614.253.5:37.015.3:378(55)

DOI: 10.2478/afmnai-2019-0007

Preferred Learning Styles of Nurses in In-Service Training Courses in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Neda Safaeifard¹, Hossein Namdar Areshtanab¹, Fariborz Roshangar², Hossein Ebrahim¹, Hossein Karimi Moonaghi³, Raheleh Janani⁴

¹Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
²Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Medical Sciences University, Tabriz, Iran
³Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
⁴Department of Pediatric Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

summary


Generally, progress, productivity and success of any organization depends on the skills and knowledge of their manpower. Thus, better and more accurate training programs in organizations will lead to their growth and efficiency will be eventually achieved. Due to the many advances in the field of medicine, nurses are the backbone of activities in organizations of medical sciences and patient’s affairs. For this purpose, in-service training courses for employees are the most important courses in nursing. This study was conducted at the University of Medical Sciences (Tabriz-Iran) aiming to determine the preferred learning styles of nurses in in-service training courses. In this cross-sectional study, all nurses working in medical and educational centers in a university in the North West of Iran were randomly selected. To collect data, a two-part questionnaire of Kolb's demographic and social information was used. Data was analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistics SPSS version 17 software. A total of 470 nurses with an average age of 36.46 ± 5.77 were studied. There was a significant correlation between preferred learning styles of nurses with nursing position, employment status, and income level. There was no a significant statistical relationship between the preferred learning style of nurses with age, work experience and experience in the center. The present study shows that the highest percentage of Kolb's learning style is related to the preferential converging learning style (57.8%). This study aimed to determine the preferred learning styles of nurse’s in-service training courses in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The results of the study showed that converging and assimilating styles were the preferred learning ones among the majority of nurses; these styles are effective and interpreted according to their profession requiring a lot of information and knowledge. Due to the dominance of converging learning style among nurses, it is recommended to use appropriate teaching methods tailored to the style including the use of diagrams, presentations, lectures and self-learning with enjoyable materials.

Key words: learning style, nursing, training