Using Co-Design with Nursing Students to Create Educational Apps for Clinical Training.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Mobile technology offers potential for immediate access to educational materials in clinical settings.
• Existing educational mobile applications are often generic and do not meet the specific needs of nursing students.
• Personalized software solutions are required to effectively support nursing students in clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the co-design process of a clinical skills-based educational mobile application with final-year nursing students.
• To gather input from nursing students on the desired design and functionality of a personalized educational app.
• To understand student requirements for mobile learning tools in clinical environments.

Main Methods:

• A socio-cognitive engineering approach was adapted for the study.
• Focus groups were conducted with final-year nursing students.
• Co-design principles were employed to gather student input on app design and functionality.

Main Results:

• Students emphasized the need for an uncluttered, fast, and user-friendly interface suitable for busy clinical settings.
• A demand for simple visual descriptions of key clinical skills and equipment was identified.
• The co-design process highlighted the importance of student-centered design in educational app development.

Conclusions:

• Personalized mobile educational applications can enhance nursing students' clinical skills acquisition.
• User-centered design, focusing on ease of use and quick access to information, is crucial for effective clinical learning tools.
• Future mobile learning solutions should prioritize the specific needs and practical requirements of nursing students.