Effect of digital storytelling-case studies patient privacy: A randomized controlled study

Background: It is essential to develop future nurses’ privacy consciousness and attitudes toward patient privacy to recognise threats to patient privacy and take the necessary precautions. Objectives: To determine the effect of digital storytelling and case studies teaching methods on nursing students’ privacy consciousness and attitudes toward patient privacy. Research design: Pretest-posttest, factorial group randomised controlled study. Participants and research context: Eligible 113 nursing students were randomised to the intervention I (n = 38), intervention II (n = 38), and control group (n = 37) by stratified block randomisation method. The education program consisted of two theoretical sessions and three practical sessions. Data were collected using questionnaires pre-, post-, 4 weeks, and 16 weeks after the intervention between November 2020 and May 2021 in Türkiye. Ethical considerations: Written approval was obtained from the university’s Ethics Board. Informed written and verbal consent were obtained from the participants. Findings: The results showed a significant time effect on nursing students’ privacy consciousness and attitudes toward patient privacy (p <.05), no significant difference between the groups (p >.05), and a significant, positive, and strong relationship between the privacy consciousness and the attitudes toward patient privacy. Students stated that digital storytelling was beneficial in focusing on the subject, memorability, interest, curiosity, and attention. Conclusions: Besides the ethics course, the privacy education program with digital storytelling and case studies develops nursing students’ privacy consciousness and attitudes toward patient privacy. It is recommended to integrate privacy education into ethics courses and popularise digital storytelling and ethical case studies in ethics education.