Developing nursing students’ informatics competencies – A Canadian faculty perspective

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to explore nursing faculty experiences in integrating digital tools to support undergraduate students’ learning and development of nursing informatics competencies. Methods This focused ethnography study used a combination of semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and field visits. Convenience and snowball sampling were applied to recruit participants. Data were analyzed concurrently with data collection, using thematic analysis. Results Twenty-one faculty members from nine undergraduate nursing programs in Western Canada participated. Themes discussed include: 1) meaning of the term nursing informatics, 2) faculty perceived nursing informatics competence, 3) developing students’ nursing informatics competencies, 4) facilitators, and 5) challenges. Conclusions Nursing faculty are relatively engaged in developing students’ informatics competencies. However, challenges must be addressed and faculty need more support to improve their own informatics capacity. Implications for Practice and Research: This study has implications for faculty, nursing program administrators, and nursing organizations.

Digital Health Education and Training for Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students: Scoping Review

“…In Canadian nursing, approaches currently applied for preparing students at the undergraduate level in digital health mainly focused on integrating informatics within existing courses; however, this integration is mostly inconsistent and sporadic [8,13,14]. Similar to the Canadian context, in other countries the nursing informatics (NI) competencies, which should serve as a guiding framework for content integration in nursing curricula and as standards for professional practice requirements in the workplace, have limited to no focus on emerging technologies [15][16][17].…”

“…Sometimes, assumptions about the use of technology in the academic setting put nursing students at a disadvantage, resulting in missed learning opportunities for students to develop competency in working with digital health technologies available in the clinical environment [ 8 , 12 ]. In Canadian nursing, approaches currently applied for preparing students at the undergraduate level in digital health are mainly focused on integrating informatics within existing courses; however, this integration is mostly inconsistent and sporadic [ 8 , 13 , 14 ]. Similar to the Canadian context, in other countries, the nursing informatics (NI) competencies, which should serve as a guiding framework for content integration in nursing curricula and as standards for professional practice requirements in the workplace, have limited to no focus on emerging technologies [ 15 - 17 ].…”