Chatbot Facilitated Education on Child and Adolescent Abuse

Background: Child and adolescent abuse and neglect (CAAN) cases are increasing both in Taiwan and worldwide. As the first healthcare professionals who come in contact with CAAN cases, nurses play a crucial role. Studies show that the lack of professional knowledge and ability of nursing staff on CAAN affects the effectiveness of timely identification and notification. Therefore, it is extremely important to improve the knowledge and ability of nursing staff to assess and report CAAN. With advancements in technology, continuing education for nurses is now more extensive than traditional lecture teaching. Online education, which breaks down the barriers of time and space in learning, has thrived after the COVID-19 pandemic. Chatbots are an option for individual learning and can increase accessibility and convenience for nurses learning how to recognize and report CAAN. Objective: The aims of the study are to evaluate the effectiveness of using chatbots as teaching aids to assist nursing personnel in preventing child abuse. This evaluation will be the impact of learning on CAAN competency. Method: The study utilizes an experimental design in which participants are purposively sampled and subsequently randomized into either the experimental or control group. The experimental group will use \"chatbot\" to facilitate teaching. The control group only receives lecture-based teaching. The course content is comprised of two main subjects: \"CAAN\" and \"Nurses\' Roles and Functions in CAAN,\" which was developed using the ADDIE model. The study employs the CAAN Knowledge and Competency Scale which retrieves from the Child abuse report intention scale (CARIS) by Feng and Wu (2005). Additionally, the learning effect is assessed at three different time points: before the course, one week after, and four weeks after. Expected Results: The study predicts that the learning effects of the experimental group, which used chatbots, will be better than those of the control group. It is expected that these results will be able to implement in various educational fields, including CAAN and interdisciplinary teams.