Effectiveness of a Nursing Intervention to Improve Basic and Psychological First Aid Knowledge Among Adolescents. A Quasi‐Experimental Study

ABSTRACT Basic first aid (FA) knowledge is important for in‐school adolescents to save lives in emergency situations. The study aimed to evaluate the change in basic and psychological FA knowledge levels after developing an educational intervention. A quasi‐experimental study with a pre and posttest design and no control group was conducted. The intervention consisted of sessions on basic and psychological first aid for students in six schools. A knowledge test was administered to the students prior to the start of the intervention. At the end, a posttest was administered with the same questions used in the pretest. A change in the knowledge level of 185 students was evaluated. The mean difference between the pretest and posttest for knowledge level was significant (3.11 95% CI: 2.68–3.54). Airway management, poisoning, FA basics, and psychological FA all increased by more than 10 points in the posttest. The study showed that the intervention improves the level of knowledge of basic and psychological FA in adolescents. The results demonstrate that health education in the school setting can have a significant impact.