Application effect of 3D printing technology applied in nursing teaching of neurosurgery

Objective To explore the application effect of 3D printing technology applied in nursing teaching of neurosurgery. Methods A total of 76 nursing students who had internship in the neurosurgery of our hospital from July 2015 to March 2016 were randomly divided into the control group and the intervention group by computer random sequence, with 38 cases in each group. Traditional PPT instruction method was applied in the control group, while 3D printing technology was applied in the teaching of intervention group, and it was used to print the 3D models of patients′ skull, intracranial tumor, encephalic blood vessel, etc. Teaching effect of two groups was observed and compared by theoretical examination, self-evaluation and mutual evaluation between nursing students and teachers, and teaching effectiveness. Results The score of theoretical knowledge in the intervention group (90.05±0.74) , was higher than that in the control group (82.08±1.04) (t=6.22, P 0.05) . Conclusions The application of 3D printing technology in nursing teaching of neurosurgery can effectively improve interns′ comprehensive ability in neurosurgery theoretical knowledge, enhance students′ learning enthusiasm and initiative, and raise the general level of interns. Key words: Neurosurgery; Clinical practice; Nursing teaching; 3D printing