Assessing educational gaps in Iran's nursing education system: a mixed-method approach to the infectious diseases curriculum.

Background: Nurses play a significant role in the health system. The outbreak of emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, highlights the need for nursing staff to be aware of the various aspects of these diseases. Therefore, considering the critical importance of infectious diseases, the present study aims to identify the educational needs of the infectious diseases course in nursing in Iran.

Method: This mixed-method study was conducted in two phases. First, a qualitative study using a conventional content analysis approach was performed to identify educational needs. Subsequently, in the quantitative phase, a panel of 10 nursing faculty members was asked to prioritize these needs using the Delphi technique.

Results: The qualitative phase identified three main categories of educational needs: (1) enhancing the theoretical content of infectious diseases, (2) strengthening the practical and clinical components of the course, and (3) optimizing educational strategies. The needs assessment questionnaire, developed in the qualitative phase, was analyzed over two rounds using the modified Delphi method with descriptive statistics.

Conclusion: The use of a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) approach to assess the curriculum needs for infectious diseases, conducted for the first time in Iran, revealed the necessity of revising both theoretical and clinical curricula..