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Midwifery education

Evaluating asynchronous online education for midwives and nurses in the Republic of Ireland

02 February 2025
Research
02 February 2025
Volume 33 · Issue 2

Abstract

Background/Aims

Asynchronous online education for midwives and nurses has become more popular, but evaluation is required to ensure quality and continuous improvement. This study aimed to evaluate six asynchronous online learning courses provided to midwives and nurses in the Republic of Ireland.

Methods

This descriptive study captured 1413 participants' reactions from post-programme evaluation questionnaires, which were analysed with descriptive statistics.

Results

There was a high level of satisfaction with the courses and most respondents preferred asynchronous online learning. Benefits were highlighted, but participants noted a lack of interaction and opportunities for questions.

Conclusions

Asynchronous online learning should be considered for suitable topics in nursing and midwifery. However, opportunities for interaction and questioning could be included.

Implications for practice

This study aids healthcare educators in online learning design and gaining support for online learning from both learners and healthcare institutions.

Historically, continuous professional development for healthcare professionals has been delivered face-to-face (Ngenzi et al, 2021). However, in recent years, online learning has dramatically increased in availability (García-Morales et al, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the move to online learning or blended education (Chick et al, 2020). It provided ‘a challenge and an opportunity to use and assess e-learning’ and to observe learners transitioning to a new method of learning (Bani Hani et al, 2021). Learners who were previously resistant to online learning needed to grapple with this transition, as were educators with low digital literacy. As noted by Bdair (2021), the COVID-19 ‘crisis created a new motivation to adapt to this valuable teaching strategy’.

‘Online learning refers to instruction that is delivered electronically through various multimedia and Internet platforms and applications’ (Maddison et al, 2017). It is usually broken down into two categories: ‘synchronous (instructor and students physically separated by distance but communicating in real time, as in video conferencing) and asynchronous (instructor and students whose communications are separated by both distance and time, as in web-based courses)’ (Roblyer et al, 2007).

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Education
Ireland
Midwives
Nurses
Online learning