The Effect of CORE on Nursing Students' Knowledge and Attitude Levels Regarding Pain Assessment: Randomized Controlled Trial

CORE is an assessment tool that uses written scenarios designed to address problems that students may encounter in real clinical settings. These scenarios are presented at different stations. It enables educators to conduct more objective evaluations during the learning process, contributing to effective learning by providing students with immediate feedback. This research will examine the effect of CORE on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding pain assessment. The study will be conducted using a randomised controlled experimental design. The study population will consist of senior nursing students taking the Nursing Professional Practice II course in the spring semester of the 2025/26 academic year at a nursing department in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey (n = 100). The sample for the study will consist of students who agree to participate in the research. Students will be randomized into intervention and control groups based on their pre-test knowledge scores. Research data will be collected using the "Personal Information Form" "Pain Knowledge Test", "Nursing Students' Attitudes Scale Toward Pain Assessment" and "CORE Satisfaction Form". Approval from the ethical committee has been obtained for the research to be conducted, and written permission has been requested from the institution in which the research will take place. Before starting the research, students will be informed about it and asked to provide written informed consent. Students in the intervention group will perform the CORE application on tablets using case scenarios prepared for pain assessment in the Nursing Skills Laboratory. Data collection tools will be administered three times: pre-test, post-test, and retention test. Only the "CORE Satisfaction Form" will be administered to students in the intervention group to assess their satisfaction after the CORE application. Descriptive statistics and the Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test for dependent groups will be used in the analysis of the data.