Mobile applications in nursing science education: A scoping review with snowballing method.

OBJECTIVES: To review the available evidence on the use and effectiveness of mobile applications to assist nursing students in comprehending, utilising, and applying specialised language and knowledge terminologies when learning the language of biosciences. DESIGN: A scoping review. DATA SOURCES: The databases CINAHL Complete, ERIC, EMCare, MEDLINE, PubMed, the OVID scholarly interface and the web search engine Google Scholar were searched. REVIEW METHODS: Peer-reviewed literature published in English during the period 2010-2023 was reviewed. Snowballing methods saw the reference lists of all included articles searched, and a secondary search of the Scopus ranked top ten nursing journals. Articles were included if they reported on any app or digital resource used when teaching undergraduate nursing students biosciences/science language skills, concepts, or terminology. Studies were excluded if the participants were non-nursing student cohorts or content did not meet the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Mobile applications generally contribute positively to nursing students' education. These applications are deemed valuable tools, offering structured content in easily digestible formats. Some applications also foster teamwork and collaboration during clinical placements, promoting peer learning, and a sense of community. User internet access and preparation for learning were the only noted barriers. A range of science-based concepts were taught using applications, including diabetes mellitus, medical terminology, asthma, and cardiac conditions. Despite the promise shown by using mobile applications to teach nurse sciences, few are dedicated to bioscience language and scientific terminology. Recognising the challenging nature of teaching these concepts, developing specialised applications could substantially improve the educational experience for nursing students. CONCLUSION: Nurse educators are encouraged to teach with applications given their reported effectiveness in knowledge gains for students learning science concepts. Rigorous interventional study designs are warranted to extend suggestions that using applications enhances student understanding of challenging scientific concepts and support quality in clinical learning.

Why should we care about social media codes of conduct in healthcare organisations? A systematic literature review.

Background: The conduct of healthcare organisation employees on social media can impact both their personal reputation and that of the organisation. However, social media has blurred the lines between professional and personal communication, and what is acceptable and ethical conduct is not always clear. Furthermore, the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed how healthcare organisations and their employees approach the use of social media, expediting the need to ensure that employees communicating health-related information adhere to employee codes of conduct. Aims: This review aims to investigate the challenges associated with healthcare organisation employees' use of social media for sharing health-related information, identify the crucial elements for inclusion in social media codes of conduct for healthcare organisations, and examine the enablers for good codes of conduct. Methods: A systematic review of the literature from six research database platforms on articles related to codes of conduct addressing the use of social media for healthcare organisation employees was conducted. The screening process yielded 52 articles. Results: The key finding in this review focuses on privacy, protecting both patients and healthcare organisation employees. While maintaining separate professional and personal social media accounts is a much-discussed approach, training and education on social media codes of conduct can clarify acceptable behaviour both personally and professionally. Conclusion: The results raise essential questions about healthcare organisation employees' use of social media. It is evident that organisational support and a constructive culture will enable healthcare organisations to fully realise the benefits of using social media.

Mapping the cultural characteristics of subcontinent students and the challenges to their academic success.

This study explores the cultural characteristics of subcontinent students and maps the characteristics to the challenges to their academic success. Interviews of fifty staff from an Australian university indicated that both teaching and professional staff held similar views on the characteristics of subcontinent students. Significant characteristics included respect for teachers, the need for continual guidance, a tendency to group, and a propensity to negotiate. The identified challenges to the academic success of subcontinent students were a lack of engagement with staff, inadequate critical thinking, poor communication skills, academic integrity issues and unrealistic expectations. Armed with a better understanding of the subcontinent student cohort, this study encourages teaching and professional staff to find ways to develop a more inclusive educational environment that builds students up for success.

An Overview of the Common Elements of Learning Management System Policies in Higher Education Institutions.

Learning management systems form an integral part of the learning environments of most universities and support a wide range of diverse activities and operations. However, learning management systems are often regulated by institutional policies that address the general use of Information Technology and Communication services rather than specific learning management system policies. Hence, we propose that learning management system environments are complex techno-social systems that require dedicated standalone policies to regulate their operation. This preliminary study examined a selection of learning management system policies from twenty universities in four countries to identify some of the elements that are considered necessary for inclusion in policy documents. Seventeen individual elements of learning management system policy documents were identified from a synthesis of the policies. These were classified into six policy categories: Accounts, Courses, Ownership, Support, Usage, and Protection. The study also identified three additional qualities of learning management system policy documents: standalone comprehensibility, platform-neutral statements, and contemporary relevance. The findings of this study will serve as a useful template for developing dedicated standalone policies for the governance of university learning management systems.

Stalking and Other Forms of Dating Violence: Lessons Learned from You in Relation to Cyber Safety.

Often, individuals share private information on social media, being unaware of online dangers. You, a popular psychological thriller series on Netflix, raises issues of stalking behaviors through social media as part of a pattern of dating violence. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, this study examined how social media is used for erotic stalking, dating violence, and cyber safety awareness (or lack thereof) in You. The researchers analyzed all 10 episodes of the first season of You independently, taking notes. A combined in-depth analysis included discussions of messages and meanings resulting in three overarching themes: obsessive online and in-person erotic stalking, controlling behaviors in the context of the dating relationship, and an apparent indifference about cyber safety with oversharing of personal information on social media, which was exploited by the lead protagonist. You raises important concerns including inappropriate dating behaviors such as stalking, coercive control, violence, and questionable masculine attitudes, which are interwoven with an apparent lack of knowledge and understanding in relation to cyber safety. We concluded that raising awareness of the importance of online safety and security in the context of a dating relationship is imperative and that You can be used as an educational tool.

Sociotechnical Drivers and Barriers in the Consumer Adoption of Personal Health Records: Empirical Investigation.

BACKGROUND: Increasingly popular in the health care domain, electronic personal health records (PHRs) have the potential to foster engagement toward improving health outcomes, achieving efficiencies in care, and reducing costs. Despite the touted benefits of PHRs, their uptake is lackluster, with low adoption rates. OBJECTIVE: This paper reports findings from an empirical investigation of the sociotechnical factors affecting the adoption of PHRs. METHODS: A research model comprising personal and technological determinants of PHR adoption was developed and validated in this study. Demographic, technographic, and psychographic data pertaining to the use of PHRs were collected through a web-based questionnaire for past, current, and potential users. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling was used to estimate a structural model of cognitive and affective factors impacting intentions to use PHRs. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that in addition to the expected positive impact of a PHR system's usefulness and usability, system integration also positively affects consumers' intention to adopt. The results also suggest that higher levels of perceived usability and integration do not translate into higher levels of perceived usefulness. The study also highlights the importance of subjective norms, technology awareness, and technology anxiety as direct antecedents of the intention to adopt PHRs. The differential effects of the adoption factors are also discussed. CONCLUSIONS: We hope that our study will contribute to the understanding of consumer adoption of PHRs and help improve the design and delivery of consumer-centric health care technologies. After discussing the implications for research, we provide suggestions and guidelines for PHR technology developers and constituents in the health care delivery chain.

Transitioning to E-Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: How have Higher Education Institutions responded to the challenge?

Lockdowns, social distancing, and COVID safe hygiene practices have rendered the usual face-to-face course delivery options all but impossible for many higher education institutions worldwide. A forced transition to online learning has been the only viable option for preventing a wholesale closure of many institutions. The aim of this study is to identify the role of educational technologies in the transition from face-to-face to online teaching and learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper identified five challenges to transitioning to online education experienced by higher education institutions: synchronous/asynchronous learning tool integration, access to technology, faculty and student online competence, academic dishonesty, and privacy and confidentiality. From the studies examined in this literature review, strategies for successful online implementation were also noted. These included: providing e-learning training support for faculty and students, fostering online learning communities, and expanding traditional face-to-face course delivery to incorporate more elements of blended learning. A Technology Enhanced Learning Hub that encapsulates the learning process within a modality-neutral learning space is presented as a suggested framework for delivering higher education programs in this challenging environment.

Utility, Value, and Benefits of Contemporary Personal Health Records: Integrative Review and Conceptual Synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Contemporary personal health record (PHR) technologies offer a useful platform for individuals to maintain a lifelong record of personally reported and clinically sourced data from various points of medical care. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents an integrative review and synthesis of the extant literature on PHRs. This review draws upon multiple lenses of analysis and deliberates value perspectives of PHRs at the product, consumer, and industry levels. METHODS: Academic databases were searched using multiple keywords related to PHRs for the years 2001-2020. Three research questions were formulated and used as selection criteria in our review of the extant literature relevant to our study. RESULTS: We offer a high-level functional utility model of PHR features and functions. We also conceptualize a consumer value framework of PHRs, highlighting the applications of these technologies across various health care delivery activities. Finally, we provide a summary of the benefits of PHRs for various health care constituents, including consumers, providers, payors, and public health agencies. CONCLUSIONS: PHR products offer a myriad of content-, connectivity-, and collaboration-based features and functions for their users. Although consumers benefit from the tools provided by PHR technologies, their overall value extends across the constituents of the health care delivery chain. Despite advances in technology, our literature review identifies a shortfall in the research addressing consumer value enabled by PHR tools. In addition to scholars and researchers, our literature review and proposed framework may be especially helpful for value analysis committees in the health care sector that are commissioned for the appraisal of innovative health information technologies such as PHRs.