Undergraduate Student Nurses' Use of Information and Communication Technology in Their Education

Students expect to use technology in their study just as they use technology in other aspects of their life. Technology is embedded in the day-to-day work of nursing, and therefore needs to be integrated in education to prepare students to assume professional roles and develop skills for lifelong learning. A quantitative descriptive study, using an anonymous survey, explored how undergraduate student nurses from one New Zealand school of nursing, access information and communication technologies for their learning. In total 226 completed questionnaires were returned (75%). Nearly all students (96%) have smart phones, all students have a computer and 99% use the university learning management system daily or several times a week. The search engine most commonly used to find information for assignments was Google Scholar (91%), with only 78% using subject specific academic databases. Implications from this study include the need for charging stations and further education on information searching.