| Sumario: | Background: Blended learning combines face-to-face and online learning and has recently gained popularity, accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, often without active evaluation. Objectives: This study aimed to assess university nursing students' perceptions of a blended learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The population was 150 third-year nursing students from a university in the Western Cape, South Africa, using all-inclusive sampling. A one-group, pre-and post-evaluation study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire (Student Perceptions of Blended Learning scale). Differences were assessed using Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests with a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: Before implementing blended learning, 128 students (85.3%) completed the questionnaire, while 95 (63.3%) did so after. Demographics and access showed no significant differences between the groups. Post-implementation showed a 10.1% increase in preference for blended learning (χ² = 2.832, p = 0.092). Ease of use was rated significantly higher before implementation (3.07 ± 0.49), with no significant change post-implementation (2.99 ± 0.58). The blended learning process received lower ratings compared to content, with no significant differences before or after implementation for either (process: 2.55 ± 0.58 vs 2.54 ± 0.63; content: 2.75 ± 0.52 vs 2.79 ± 0.52). Conclusion: Nursing students had a positive perception of blended learning, though the online learning component posed challenges with time and module comprehension. Contribution: The findings can help higher education institutions evaluate existing online management systems and guide nurse educators in meeting students' needs when developing module resources.
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