Effect of Psychological First Aid Training on Knowledge and Self-efficacy of Nurses: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Psychological first aid (PFA) is an approach used to provide first-hand psychosocial support to individuals who are exposed to the acute aftermath of an adversity such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though PFA is being used worldwide at times of disasters or emergencies, few researches have been carried out in terms of PFA training of health care professionals. Hence, the present study aimed to assess the effect of PFA training on knowledge and self-efficacy of nurses. A two-armed randomized controlled trial was utilized in the study. Purposive sampling technique with random allocation and assessments at 3 time points was applied. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and socio-demographic variables performa. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric tests as data were not normally distributed. The findings of the Wilcoxon sign-rank test ranks of knowledge were (Z = −3.53, P < 0.01) and (Z = −1.3, P = 1.92) among experimental and control groups. Meanwhile, scores of self-efficacy for both groups were (Z = −4.26, P < 0.01) and (Z = −1.04, P = 0.3). Mann Whitney U-test revealed non-significant scores (U = 895.00, P = 1.99) for knowledge and significant scores (U = 798.50, P = 0.043) for self-efficacy. The findings of the Friedman test of differences showed results that were significant (15.24 at P < 0.01) in the intervention group and non-significant (2.28 at P = 0.32) in the control group for knowledge and self-efficacy. Overall, study findings demonstrated that the necessary training of nurses on PFA aids in building knowledge and self-efficacy in rendering psychosocial interventions.