Effectiveness of an e-book in enhancing knowledge, coping behaviors and preventive strategies for sexual harassment prevention among new nurses: A randomized controlled study

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive e-book in improving new nurses' knowledge, coping behaviors and preventive strategies for sexual harassment prevention, while also assessing its impact on learning motivation. Background: Sexual harassment has a detrimental effect on nurses' physical and mental well-being, as well as on patient safety, with new nurses being particularly vulnerable. Design: A single centre, randomized controlled study. Methods: The study included 102 new nurses with less than 6 months of experience, recruited from a medical center in Taiwan. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (e-book, n = 51) or the control group (video and manual, n = 51). Scales assessing sexual harassment prevention knowledge, coping behaviors, prevention strategies and learning motivation were used at baseline (T1), post-course (T2) and 2 weeks after the course (T3). Results: Baseline measurements were similar between groups. The intervention group had significantly higher scores in prevention knowledge, strategies and learning motivation (p = 0.001; p = 0.05; p < 0.001) compared with the control group, though coping behavior scores were not statistically different (p = 0.228). Group and time effects were significant at T3 for prevention knowledge (p = 0.039), strategies (p = 0.042) and learning motivation (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The e-book may enhance new nurses' knowledge and learning motivation for sexual harassment prevention, offering potential advantages over video/manual-based methods. Incorporating interactive e-books into nurse training programs could improve the effectiveness of sexual harassment prevention education.