Online Classes for Nursing Fraternity: A Systematic Review of the Impact on Attitude, Knowledge, and Skills

Owing to COVID-19, there has been a lot of emphasis on online classes among educational institutes. Online classes have their own merits and demerits as compared to traditional classes. COVID-19 crisis changed the teaching–learning pedagogy dramatically and pushes the learning platform from conventional methods to more use of online or electronic methods. This objective of the study was to review the effect of online classes on attitude, knowledge, and skill among nursing fraternity (nursing students, staff nurses, and nursing faculty) so that measures can be planned to deliver online education to students in a more efficient and acceptable manner. The studies included were published between January 2010 and March 2020 using the following databases: CINAHL, ERIC, Medline, EMBASE, Dissertation, and Theses. The experimental study (randomized controlled trial) and nonexperimental study designs were included. Thirty-three studies were found eligible for inclusion in the analysis. The review demonstrates that the nursing fraternity has positive attitude toward online classes. There is a significant change in knowledge scores also, but limited data could be found regarding skill improvement after the online classes. Data were extracted using a narrative synthesis. There was significant improvement in nurses' attitude and knowledge between groups who attended online classes and the ones who participated in traditional learning.