The impact of an educational intervention on knowledge and competency levels for students enrolled in a forensic nursing science course

Forensic nursing is an emerging nursing specialty recognized by the American Nursing Association. However, nurses often do not have the basic knowledge or practical competence to provide the appropriate level of forensic care. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in knowledge or practical competence existed between students using two different learning modalities, medium fidelity simulation versus face to face lecture. Students enrolled in an elective online forensic nursing science course were randomly assigned to either an intervention or attention control group. The students in the intervention group (n=18) had three 2-hour sessions working through clinical forensic scenarios in the laboratory. The students in the attention control group (n=17) attended three lectures in a classroom setting. No significant differences were found between the two groups on knowledge or practical competency. The lack of significant results may have been influenced by the small sample size, which resulted in insufficient power to detect possible differences.