The effects of blended learning on knowledge, skills, and satisfaction in nursing students: A meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate the effects of blended learning on nursing students' knowledge, skills and satisfaction. Methods: We searched EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library for publications in English up to December 2018. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted the data. Meta-analysis was performed with Revman5.0 for the eligible studies. Results: A total of 8 studies met the inclusion criteria of meta-analysis, including 574 nursing students. Compared with traditional teaching, blended learning could effectively improve nursing students' knowledge (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI [0.52, 0.87], P < 0.00001) and satisfaction (SMD = 0.72, 95% CI [0.08, 0.59], P = 0.01), and tended to improve the skills although without significant difference (SMD = 0.58, 95% CI [-0.17, 1.32], P = 0.13). Conclusions: Blended learning can effectively improve the knowledge and satisfaction of nursing students. Therefore, blended learning can be used as a teaching method in nursing education.