Surfing or drowning? Student nurses' Internet skills

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Digital Literacy
• Information Science

Background:

• Internet proficiency is vital for nursing students' academic success and professional development.
• Students often undertake placements away from campus, increasing reliance on digital resources.
• Essential Information and Technology (IT) skills are increasingly important for nurses as lifelong learners and practitioners.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the Internet skills and usage patterns of new nursing students.
• To identify any correlations between student demographics (e.g., age) and Internet proficiency.
• To understand the challenges nursing students face when searching for information online.

Main Methods:

• A study was conducted at Bournemouth University, England.
• Data was collected from new student nurses regarding their Internet use and skills.
• Analysis focused on Internet usage frequency, skill levels, and search effectiveness.

Main Results:

• New student nurses demonstrated poor Internet skills and infrequent prior usage.
• No significant link was found between student age and their Internet skills or usage.
• A strong correlation existed between Internet ability and frequency of use, except for effective search techniques.
• Nearly half of the students reported difficulty filtering irrelevant online information.

Conclusions:

• Pre-registration nursing education must incorporate programs to develop essential Internet and IT skills.
• Addressing the digital literacy gap is critical for preparing competent and effective nursing professionals.
• Targeted training is needed to improve students' ability to conduct effective online searches and manage information overload.