Information Technology in Nursing Education: Perspectives of Student Nurses

Abstract

Background: Nursing education institutions in South Africa are integrating Information Technology (IT) into nursing programmes to prepare student nurses to meet the demands of a contemporary healthcare landscape. Objective: To explain and describe the perspectives of student nurses at a private nursing education institution on the use of IT in nursing education. Methods: A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive research design was selected. The target population included student nurses registered for basic and post-basic qualifications. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The respondents acknowledged the importance of IT in nursing education but also experienced challenges in terms of training and internet connectivity, owned at least one IT device, used IT frequently for study and work purposes, reported IT competence, and had positive attitudes to IT. The respondents were significantly competent in general IT (M=3.5410, SD=.98619), t (243)=8.569, p<.0005; used IT significantly frequently for medical purposes/learning (M=3.2917, SD=0.76598), t (243)=5.948, p<.0005, and were significantly competent in the use of IT for medical purposes/learning (M=3.3646, SD=.94497), t (242)=6.015, p<.0005; and had significantly positive attitude towards using IT (M=4.2964, SD=0.66557), t (243)=30.426, p<.0005. Conclusion: While there are numerous advantages to IT in nursing education, IT challenges are a reality for student nurses. Identified gaps must be closed to ensure that IT is accepted, adopted and used effectively and efficiently. The inclusion of an IT module in the curriculum is recommended to improve the use of IT in nursing education.