The Effect of Digital Storytelling on Nursing Students’ Compliance with Isolation Precautions and Their Knowledge Levels: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Aim This study investigated the effect of digital storytelling on nursing students’ knowledge levels and compliance with isolation precautions. Background Background: Nursing students should learn about isolation precautions and how to comply with them. Turkey has shifted to distance learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This has been challenging for nursing students, as they have had difficulty acquiring the required knowledge and developing the right attitudes and skills for their future careers. Digital storytelling is an active teaching tool that can help nursing students master the curriculum and improve their skills. Design: This study was a pretest-posttest open-label randomized controlled trial. Method Data were collected using a Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire (DCQ), the Isolation Knowledge Test (IKT), the Questionnaire of Students’ Opinions on Digital Storytelling (QSODS), and the Scale of Compliance with Isolation Precautions (SCIP). The experimental group attended a digital storytelling activity, while the control group received an education based on the curriculum. The data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test, the Wilcoxon test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the Spearman correlation test. Results The experimental group had significantly higher posttest IKT and SCIP scores than the control group (p ˂ .05). Both groups had lower IKT and SCIP scores two months after the experiment, but the change was much smaller in the experimental group. Conclusion Digital storytelling helps nursing students learn about isolation precautions and how to comply with them. Digital storytelling also promotes learning retention. In conclusion, digital tools are effective in distance learning.