Assessing the Relation Between Problem-based Learning Methods and Critical Thinking Skills of Undergraduate Nursing Students in Mental Health Sector.

Background: Mental health nurses often deal with complex clinical situations and face difficulties with the decision-making process. The development of educational techniques during nurses' clinical practice is crucial to improve nurses' skills in communication, assessment and effective intervention in patients with mental disorders. Problem Based Learning (PBL) teaching method is a student-centered educational method based on the integration of a real problem into the learning process.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the PBL on the development of critical thinking in undergraduate nursing students, in mental health clinical practice.

Methods: A quasi - experimental study was conducted with a pre- and post-test design in an experimental group and a control group, in Greece, at the Larissa School of Nursing of the University of Thessaly. The study was conducted throughout the 6th spring semester of an undergraduate nursing program, in the course Psychiatry - Mental Health Nursing (clinical practice) during the academic year 2022-2023.

Results: The study samples were comprised 67 students each. None of the students in either group had received PBL training previously. CTΑSS scores in intervention group differed statistically significantly in all subscales before and after the experimental procedure, p<0.05). Intervention group achieved significantly higher scores compared with the control group in certain subscales (interpretation, analysis, inference, and explanation-p=0.037, p=0.025, p=0.036 and p=0.001, respectively). Gender had an effect on explanation and inference; Women improved significantly their scores, whereas men had worse performance (p=0.001 and p=0.043 respectively).

Conclusion: Our study confirms the effect of PBL on critical thinking development and implies a role of gender in PBL education process. Future research should assess the viability of PBL effects on critical thinking by monitoring and re-assessing the trajectories of critical thinking development in subsequent years.