The Nightingale Tracker: information technology for community nursing education

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.