Authors

  1. Chen, Yi-Ting RN, MSN
  2. Kuo, Chien-Lin PhD, RN

Article Content

The smartphone-based chatbot (an artificial intelligence program designed to simulate conversation with human users) has been used as a mobile learning tool for education, enabling instant responses and humanized interactions. Such applications may help to meet the preference of Generation Z learners. New nurses in 1 outpatient department of a hospital need to complete interdisciplinary training and to support outpatient surgery in a short time. The unit used traditional mentor-apprentice teaching methods with paper manuals but lacked auxiliary tools for clinical learning. The authors used LINE (instant messaging app) Bot Designer to develop a teaching chatbot for new nurses, consisting of knowledge and skills required for outpatient surgery in dermatology. The process of learning tool development includes online testing, training preparation, a 3-week program implementation, and formative and summative evaluation. In the first week, the preceptor guides the teaching combined with the chatbot. In the third week, new nurses perform the surgical tasks independently by using the chatbot. Learners only need to download the LINE app with their smartphones, click on the graphical user interface, or enter keywords, and they can query multimedia information about dermatologic surgery. The chatbot plays as a virtual teaching assistant, answering nurses' questions and guiding their learning anytime and anywhere. Educators can examine learning data stored in the cloud, such as chatting, questions and answers, and quizzes to provide individual instruction. The nurses' feedback was positive overall; they appreciated learning the tasks of outpatient surgery through the LINE chatbot.