The Effect of CORE on Nursing Students' Knowledge and Attitude Levels Regarding Pain Assessment: Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of CORE on Nursing Students' Knowledge and Attitude Levels Regarding Pain Assessment: Randomized Controlled Trial
CORE is an assessment tool that uses written scenarios designed to address problems that students may encounter in real clinical settings. These scenarios are presented at different stations. It enables educators to conduct more objective evaluations during the learning process, contributing to effective learning by providing students with immediate feedback. This research will examine the effect of CORE on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding pain assessment. The study will be conducted using a randomised controlled experimental design. The study population will consist of senior nursing students taking the Nursing Professional Practice II course in the spring semester of the 2025/26 academic year at a nursing department in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey (n = 100). The sample for the study will consist of students who agree to participate in the research. Students will be randomized into intervention and control groups based on their pre-test knowledge scores. Research data will be collected using the "Personal Information Form" "Pain Knowledge Test", "Nursing Students' Attitudes Scale Toward Pain Assessment" and "CORE Satisfaction Form". Approval from the ethical committee has been obtained for the research to be conducted, and written permission has been requested from the institution in which the research will take place. Before starting the research, students will be informed about it and asked to provide written informed consent. Students in the intervention group will perform the CORE application on tablets using case scenarios prepared for pain assessment in the Nursing Skills Laboratory. Data collection tools will be administered three times: pre-test, post-test, and retention test. Only the "CORE Satisfaction Form" will be administered to students in the intervention group to assess their satisfaction after the CORE application. Descriptive statistics and the Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test for dependent groups will be used in the analysis of the data.
Study procedure:
Research data will be collected from students enrolled on the Practice II course of the Nursing Profession programme during the spring semester of the 2025/26 academic year. The following tests and questionnaires will be administered as pre-tests before the topic is explained during the first week of the semester's face-to-face theoretical training:
Before the study begins, students will be informed about it and their written informed consent will be obtained.
The intervention and control groups will be randomised based on their pre-test knowledge scores using www.randomizer.org.
Following randomisation, intervention group students will use the CORE application on a tablet with case scenarios prepared for pain assessment in the Nursing Skills Laboratory on the fifth day after theoretical training.
One day after implementation, both groups will take the 'Pain Knowledge Test' and the 'Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards Pain Assessment Scale' again, this time as a post-test. The 'CORE Satisfaction Form' will be given to the intervention group to measure their satisfaction with the CORE experience.
• Two weeks after the CORE implementation, both groups will take the 'Pain Knowledge Test' and the 'Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards Pain Assessment Scale' again, this time as a retention test to assess knowledge retention and attitude levels.
After the data collection phase of the study is complete, CORE will also be administered to the control group.
• Before implementation, a pilot study will be conducted with five students from outside the target group to assess the clarity of the data collection forms and the length of the CORE scenarios.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: