The Effect of Episiotomy Repair Simulation on the Anxiety and Self-Efficacy levels of Midwifery Students

Background aim: The prevalence of episiotomy varies significantly between countries (9%-100%). During simulation-based training, the use of materials which are considerably similar to human tissues is critical for the longterm success of training while performing episiotomy on laboring women. This study was performed to determine the effects of episiotomy repair simulation on the anxiety and selfefficacy levels of midwifery students. Methods: This onegroup, quasiexperimental study with a pretestposttest design was conducted at the Midwifery Department of a State University in Turkey between March and April 2017. The participants included 73 junior students, who trained during March-April 2017 on the beef tongue model for episiotomy repair, following participation in a lecture in the classroom environment which included theoretical information about episiotomy. The data were collected using a student demographic questionnaire, the state anxiety inventory and the general selfefficacy scale. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software (version 22.0) through McNemar’s and Wilcoxon test. Results: There was a significant difference before and after the simulation process regarding the state anxiety scores (39 vs 43, P 0.000). Moreover, a significant difference was observed before and after the simulation in terms of the general selfefficacy scores (76 vs 67, P 0.000). In other words, the students’ anxiety levels decreased followed by increasing levels of selfefficacy after simulation (P 0.05). Conclusion: A beef tongue episiotomy repair simulation training and application reduced the anxiety and increased the selfefficacy levels of the students. In light of these results, it is recommended to include the beef tongue episiotomy repair simulation into the preclinical practice in the midwifery curriculum.