The effects of drill-based triage education on the retention of applied knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction of Iranian nursing students

Background & Objective: Mass casualty incidents (MCIs) require rapid and accurate triage.Drill-based training may help nursing students get ready for MCIs.In this quasi-experimental study, we checked how well drill-based triage education works in improving applied knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction among Iranian nursing undergraduates. Materials & Methods:In this quasi-experimental study, 30 sixth-semester nursing students enrolled in the course "Risk Management in Disasters and Emergencies" were selected using convenience sampling and randomized (1:1) into two groups: a control group, which received a lecture, case discussion, and video presentation, and an intervention group, which participated in the same training supplemented by a practical drill exercise.Both received 2 hours of didactic instruction on START and Jump-START protocols, video showing, and case discussion.One week later, the intervention group did a 2-hour high-fidelity MCI simulation with standardized patients.Pre-and one-month post-tests checked applied knowledge, self-rated confidence, and satisfaction.Data were analyses by ANCOVA, controlling for baseline scores using SPSS version 20. Results:The average age of students was 22.43 1.36 years, and 63.3% of them were female.Both groups showed significant gains in applied knowledge (control: 5.00 1.7712.47 0.83, p < .001;intervention: 5.27 1.1612.53 0.64, p < .001),but only the simulation group showed a significant confidence increase (1.93 0.593.13 0.74, p < .001).Satisfaction was high, but there was no significant difference between groups (control: 18.87 4.01 vs. intervention: 19.33 2.72; p = .712),and post-test between-group differences reached significance only for confidence (p < .001). Conclusion:Drill-based triage training may help student confidence, though it showed no significant advantage over traditional methods in applied knowledge or satisfaction.A blended instructional approach appears equally effective.Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these findings.