Development and Effect of an Interactive Simulated Education Program for Psychological First Aid: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Considering the importance of psychological first aid, which is the first priority when a disaster occurs, developing a web-based simulation training program for nurses and confirming its effectiveness is necessary. Aim. This study aimed to develop an interactive simulated education program as a psychological first aid program for nurses and verify its effectiveness. Participants. Nurses working in hospitals and the community who had not participated in psychological first aid training in the last year were recruited. Methods. A web-based interactive simulated educational program for psychological first aid was developed. To verify its effectiveness, a randomized controlled trial design was used. The experimental group participated in a web-based educational program, while the control group was provided self-learning data in the form of e-books. The program’s effects on disaster response core competencies, problem-solving abilities, and self-leadership capacity were measured. We used descriptive statistics to analyze the general characteristics, and independent t-tests were used to analyze the differences before and after the intervention. Results. The core competencies for disaster response (t = −2.239, p < 0.05, Cohen’s d = 0.59), problem-solving abilities (t = −2.753, p < 0.01, Cohen’s d = 0.72), and self-leadership capacity (t = −2.073, p < 0.05, Cohen’s d = 0.54) showed a statistically significant difference between groups. Conclusions. The web-based simulation education program for psychological first aid training developed in this study effectively enhanced nurses’ ability to respond to disasters and improved their problem-solving abilities and self-leadership capacity. Thus, nurses can use the educational program as a tool to learn psychological first aid. This trial is registered with KCT0008965.