ABSTRACT
As health care becomes more information-intensive and diverse, there is a need to integrate information technology (IT) into clinical education. Little is known, however, about how to design instructional strategies for integrating information technology into clinical nursing education. This article outlines the instructional strategies used by faculty in five nursing programs who taught students to use a point-of-care information technology system. The article also reports students' computer acceptance and summarizes IT clinical teaching recommendations.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence , Computer User Training/methods , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/methods , Nursing Informatics/education , Point-of-Care Systems , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Anthropology, Cultural , Attitude of Health Personnel , Attitude to Computers , Clinical Competence/standards , Community Health Nursing/education , Community Health Nursing/organization & administration , Computer Literacy , Curriculum , Female , Humans , Male , Nursing Education Research , Nursing Informatics/organization & administration , Nursing Methodology Research , Point-of-Care Systems/organization & administration , Students, Nursing/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Teaching/methods , United States , User-Computer InterfaceABSTRACT
The international health care delivery system is evolving to include an increased emphasis on community care and automated clinical information and communication systems. These trends are dramatically affecting nursing education in the U.S. as faculty consider the strategies needed to communicate with their students at multiple clinical sites, and to educate students to fulfill their changing practice roles. In response to these changes, FITNE, Inc. is using triangulated research methods to develop an information technology system for use in community nursing education. Named the Nightingale Tracker, this system will: (1) facilitate real time voice and data distance communication between students at the point of care and their instructors, and (2) electronically process clinical data related to community nursing education visits. The Nightingale Tracker was pilot tested in 1996; findings will be used to plan a national beta test. Project completion is scheduled for late 1997.
