CLINICAL EVALUATION OF PRETERM NEWBORNS: NURSING STUDENTS OPINION ABOUT AN EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

Abstract

Introduction: the development of educational materials which use advanced technology is still little explored in the field of neonatal nursing and has an important role in preparing students and professionals for clinical practice. Besides the development, it is important to have software programs evaluated by experts and by the target public, who in this case are nursing students, so that these tools can be incorporated in the educational process. Objective: to identify nursing students’ opinion about the educational software Semiotics and Semiology of the Preterm Newborn. Methods: qualitative and descriptive study. Participants were 51 undergraduate nursing students from five public universities in Brazil, who had contact with the software. Results: students’ opinion on the importance of issues such as immediate feedback; richness of visuals and audio resources; animation and modern design according to current ergonomic criteria are highlighted. Conclusion: students’ opinion were fundamental to the improvement of the software, which can be considered, after this review, an educational tool that contributes to innovation in education, encouraging and facilitating the process of teaching and learning of clinical evaluation of the preterm newborn. The importance of the use of this educational technology under professor’s supervision is emphasized, and it is recommended that its use is grounded in active learning methodologies.