Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain as a Learning Tool to Assess Acute Pain in Nursing: An Analysis of the Mental Workload

BACKGROUND: The inclusion of new technologies in education has motivated the development of studies on mental workload. These technologies are now being used in the teaching and learning process. The analysis enables identification of factors intervening in this workload as well as planning of overload prevention for educational activities using these technologies. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the mental workload of an educational intervention with the Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain in adults and newborns, according to the NASA Task Load Index criteria. METHODS: A methodological study with data collected from 5 nurses and 75 students, from November of 2013 to February of 2014. RESULTS: The highest students’ and specialists’ means were in the dimensions of “Mental demand” (57.20 ± 22.27; 51 ± 29.45) and “Performance” (58.47 ± 24.19; 73 ± 28.85). The specialists’ mental workload index was higher (50.20 ± 7.28) when compared with students’ (47.87 ± 16.85) on a scale from 0 to 100 (P=.557). CONCLUSIONS: The instrument allowed for the assessment of mental workload after an online educational intervention with a mobile learning virtual object. An excessive overload was not identified among participants. Assessing mental workload from the use of educational technologies at the end of a task is a key to their applicability, with the aim of providing a more effective, stimulating, and long-lasting experience of the learning process.