A web application for recording and analyzing the clinical experiences of nursing students

A primary focus in nursing education is to provide students with a diverse range of clinical experiences. Historically, the collection and assessment of data from students' clinical experiences have been paper-and-pencil tasks that are arduous for both students and nursing faculty. The volume of collected information also has made it difficult to produce ad hoc statistical reports without additional intensive manual labor. To facilitate recording and analysis of these data, the Nursing and Computer Science Departments at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne have collaborated to create a Web application: Essential Clinical Behaviors. The use of the Web-accessible database represents a major change in nursing education by alteration of format used by students to record their clinical experiences in nursing courses. The application was designed to enhance nursing students' learning and to assist faculty in making student assignments, evaluating student progress, and supporting curriculum decisions. This report discusses the rationale for the development of the Web application, a description of its data entry and reporting mechanisms, an overview of the system architecture, its use in the nursing curriculum, and planned enhancements.