Years of Experience as a Predictor of Nurse Faculty Technology Use

Abstract

Many nurse educators are reluctant toward technology changes and view it as a burden. An emerging crisis factor among nursing colleges is the average age of faculty members being older than 51 years. The purpose of this study is to describe nurse faculty preferences about the use of technologies and to examine relationships between their preferences and years of experience. One hundred eighteen faculty members from a midwestern U.S. nursing college participated in national studies on faculty technology use across 2 years. The study results indicated negative relationships between years of faculty experience and attitudes toward the value of obtaining increased skills for technology integration within the curriculum. Newer faculty were more likely than experienced faculty to have positive attitudes for increased technology use and adoption. Providing faculty with opportunities to foster innovative integration of technology is encouraged. Future research is needed to explore links between faculty experience, age, and attitudes toward technology adoption. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(2):115-119.].