Table 2 General characteristics of the included studies (n = 10)

Yang,2021, South Korea [26]

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

End-of-life care education in the ICU

44 nurses,

Intervention group:

n = 23 (25.14 ± 2.27)

Control group:

n = 21 (27.14 ± 2.52)

Quasi-experimental design

End-of-Life Care Mobile App (EOL Care App)

ICU

7 ses, each ses 30 min, till 7 days

Baseline and after intervention

EOL app download and installation on the mobile phone

End-of-life care booklet

Without follow up

knowledge, self-efficacy, and compassion

knowledge (0.44 ± 0.19 to 0.76 ± 0.14, p < 0.001); self-efficacy (p <  = 0.001); compassion (to 0.73 ± 0.49, p = 0.005)

According to the results, the end-of-life care mobile app was an effective educational method for nurses with experience of less than 3 years in an intensive-care unit

Moon,2019, South Korea [27]

BMC Medical Education

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation education

120 nursing students,

Intervention group:

n = 60 (21.18 ± 1.08)

Control group:

n = 60 (21.27 ± 1.16)

RCT

CPR e-learning program

CICU

4 ses, 60 min, 30 min, 50 min, 90 min

Baseline and after intervention

Blended learning CPR education program

The printout containing CPR guidelines

Without follow up

knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy

knowledge (intervention: 16.40 ± 1.56, control: 6.46 ± 2, p < .001), and emotional attitude (intervention: 40.85 ± 8.01, control: 36.05 ± 6.87, p = .002), self-efficacy (no significant differences)

Learning CPR program was found effective in improving nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding CPR

Starodub,2020, USA [28]

International Emergency Nursing

Targeted temperature management (TTM) for cardiac arrest patients

52 nurses (33.6 ± 9.5) years),

Intervention group: 24

Control group: 28

A clustered RCT

Video lecture with high fidelity simulation

CICU

Not mentioned

Baseline, after intervention and after follow up duration

Video lecture with high fidelity simulation

Video lecture

2 and 6 weeks

knowledge, skills, confidence and satisfaction

knowledge was significant (beta = 7.93, SE = 3.88, p = .04), psychomotor skills was significant (beta = 11.77, SE = 4.12, p = .004), no significant difference in confidence after the intervention, t(50) =  − 0.92, p = .36, in the simulation group were more satisfied, p = .0002

Nurses trained with video lecture and high-fidelity simulation benefitted from this approach by maintaining their TTM knowledge longer

Deldar,2020, Iran [29]

BMC Medical Education

Observational pain diagnosis and assessment in mechanically-ventilated patients

70 nurses,

Interventional group: 34 (34 ± 7)

Control group: 33 (34 ± 6)

Quasi-experimental design

Social networking app

ICU

Every day by 2 weeks

Baseline and after intervention

Training with Social networking app

Routine lectures

2 weeks

Performance

Mean score of pain diagnosis (82 ± 19 in the lecture group) and (97 ± 8 in the social networking app group (P < 0.01)),

Mean pain management scores (30 ± 17 and 90 ± 18 (P < 0.01))

learning through a social networking app led to improved diagnosis and management of pain in mechanically-ventilated patients

Najafi Ghezeljeh,2022, Iran [30]

Journal of the Intensive Care Society

Delirium recognition ability and delirium-related strain of care

88 nurses,

Intervention group: 43 (30.88 ± 4.90)

Control group: 45 (31.40 ± 5.71)

Quasi-experimental design

E-learning

ICU

88 min

Baseline, and after follow up duration

Training with an interactive E-learning program

Routine educations

2 months

Skills

Mean score of delirium recognition ability in the intervention group significantly increased (P < 0.001), Mean score of delirium recognition ability in the control group did not significantly change (P = 0.055)

Interactive E-learning is effective in significantly improving critical care nurses’ delirium recognition ability and reducing their strain of care

Saiboon,2016, Malaysia [31]

Saudi medical journal

Ventricular fibrillation

80 nurses,

Interventional group: 41 (31.32 ± 4.07)

Control group: 39 (30.62 ± 5.37)

RCT

SLP teaching video

ICU

7 days,

Baseline, after intervention and after follow up duration

Training with SLP teaching video

Routine educations

6 months

knowledge, and skills

Among the participating nurses with 34 out of 37 (91.0%) in the TCI group compared with 31/34 (91.2%) in the SIV group able to successfully perform defibrillation immediately after exposure to the different teaching methods

SIV is as good as TCI in providing the knowledge, competency, and confidence in performing AED defibrillation

Yu,2021, South Korea [32]

Asian Nursing Research

High-risk neonatal infection control performance

50 Senior nursing students,

Interventional group: 25 (22.44 ± .87)

Control group: 25 (22.36 ± 1.22)

Quasi-experimental design

Virtual reality simulation

NICU

Three scenarios with 40 min

Baseline and after intervention

Training with Virtual Reality simulation program software

Routine educations

Without follow up

knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy

Compared to the control group, the experimental group showed significantly improvements in high-risk neonatal infection control performance self-efficacy (t ¼ 2.16, p ¼ .018) and learner satisfaction (t ¼ 5.59, p < .001)

The virtual reality simulation program can expand the nursing students’ practice experience in safe virtual spaces and enhance their performance self-efficacy and learning satisfaction

Azizian,2020, Iran [33]

Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Performing endotracheal tube suctioning

44 nurses,

Interventional group: 22 (33.14 ± 7.27)

Control group: 22 (31.82 ± 8.29)

Quasi-experimental design

EV

ICU

Not mentioned

Baseline and after intervention

Training with educational video

Performance feedback

Without follow up

Performance (skills)

Before and after the intervention, a significant improvement was observed in the total mean score and other dimensions of nurses’ practice in endotracheal suctioning (P < 0.0001)

The results showed that both of methods through feedback and EV are useful in improving nurses’ ETS practice

McCutcheon,2018, UK [34]

International Journal of Nursing Studies

Clinical Supervisee Training

125 undergraduate final year nursing students,

Intervention group: 62

Control group: 60

RCT

Clinical Supervisee Training app

ICU

30 min each session, 2 or 4 weeks

Only after intervention

Face-to-face tutorial and the online clinical

supervisee skills training app

Clinical

supervisee skills training app

Without follow up

knowledge, compassion and attitudes

The blended group had a more positive position on the scale of attitudes and this difference is statistically significant (p = .001). Participants in the blended group had a higher success rate in the knowledge test and this difference is statistically significant (p = .015). Participants in the blended group indicated a higher level of compassion and this difference is statistically significant (p = .001)

Blended learning provides added pedagogical value when compared to online learning in terms of teaching undergraduate nurses clinical supervision skills

Kes,2021, Turkey [35]

Nursing in critical care

Arrhythmia

interpretation skills

66 nurses,

Intervention group: 33

Control group: 33

RCT

SMS messaging via WhatsApp

ICU

During an 8-week period, twice a week (one on Tuesday and one on Saturday)

Baseline and follow-up (3 and 6 months)

Deliver SMS via WhatsApp

Without intervention

Without follow up

Skills

The analysis indicated that ICU nurses who received SMS messages about cardiac arrhythmias two times a week had significantly increased scores (P < 0.001)

This study concluded that using SMS messages as a training tool has a positive influence on cardiac arrhythmias interpretation skills among ICU nurses