Unlocking students' potential beyond traditional exams: the influence of collaborative testing on nursing students' retention and soft skills.

Background: Nursing is both an art and a science, demanding specific qualities and competencies from students to succeed. These attributes are essential for effective practice and long-term professional growth. If not developed, they may negatively impact patient outcomes and safety, contributing to medical errors, higher mortality rates, and job dissatisfaction.

Aim: This study examines the impact of collaborative testing on students' retention of emergency nursing concepts and the development of soft skills.

Design: A quasi-experimental research design was employed, adhering to the STROBE guidelines.

Methods and tools: A total of 100 students enrolled in an emergency nursing course participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to either a control group (50 students) or an experimental group (50 students). Data was collected using the Emergency Nursing Academic Achievement Questionnaire and the Collaborative Testing Satisfaction Survey.

Results: The findings revealed a significant improvement in the intervention group's post-lecture test scores for tests 2, 3, 4, and 5 (p < 0.001), while no significant difference was observed in the first post-lecture test between the two groups (p = 0.415). Additionally, the intervention group demonstrated significantly higher scores in both the mid-term and final written examinations, indicating enhanced retention of course material (p < 0.001). Furthermore, 84% of students reported high satisfaction, while 14% expressed moderate satisfaction with the collaborative testing experience. They also perceived an improvement in their soft skills, with an overall score of 95.64 ± 4.35.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that engaging students in collaborative testing significantly enhances their retention of emergency nursing concepts compared to individual testing. Moreover, most students found the collaborative experience highly satisfactory, reporting improvements in their comprehension of course material, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and engagement, key competencies for nursing professionals. Additionally, students recommended implementing this approach in other courses.

Nursing implications: Incorporating collaborative testing into nursing curricula can promote deeper learning and long-term knowledge retention of critical emergency concepts. From a practical standpoint, this model simulates real-world nursing teamwork, allowing students to practice decision-making, communication, and mutual accountability. It can also help reduce test anxiety, encourage peer learning, and better prepare students for interdisciplinary collaboration and emergency response scenarios they will encounter in clinical practice. Nurse educators should consider adopting collaborative assessment strategies as part of a broader pedagogical shift toward active, team-based learning that mirrors the collaborative nature of modern healthcare settings.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.