| dc.description.abstract | Background
Clinical placements are essential to nursing education, allowing students to gain live
experience and knowledge of nursing in clinical environments prior to entering the
healthcare workforce. Healthcare has increasingly integrated information and
communication technology (ICT) into clinical environments, therefore ICT is also
significant in nursing students’ clinical placements. However, research has revealed
that despite its benefits, nurses and nursing students are unable to use ICT effectively
for their practice and their learning. This may reflect one aspect of the challenges faced
by nursing students as they learn during clinical placements. Therefore this research
aims to analyse the dynamics of undergraduate nursing students’ learning and use of
ICT during clinical placements. By doing so, this research seeks to develop theoretical
models that can be used to improve clinical nursing education amidst the current
technology era.
- Research design
This study was conducted in Seoul, South Korea. A qualitative-dominant mixed
method strategy was adopted. Quantitative data was collected through the
development of a modified Information Technology Attitude Scales for Health
(ITASH), which was then administered to 508 nursing students from six different
universities from October 2012 to December 2012. Constructivist grounded theory
(CGT) guided qualitative data collection, which was achieved through sequence of
four rounds of intensive individual and group interviews with 16 nursing students, 4
qualified nurses, and 2 university lecturers from April 2013 to June 2015 (a total of 23
individual interviews and 6 group interviews). The exploratory and confirmatory
factor analyses of quantitative data analysis were supported by SPSS and LISREL,
while the constant comparison approach of qualitative data was supported by Nvivo 10.
- Findings
The findings revealed: 1) nursing students’ learning dynamics through the qualitative
research process based on CGT methodology, and 2) nursing students’ use of ICT
during clinical placements based on the learning dynamics via both qualitative and
quantitative research processes. In the learning dynamics, this study identified the
nursing students’ cognitive learning and knowledge building process, and then the
factors and dynamics influencing that process in the clinical environment. This was
compared with classroom and simulation environments. Based on these dynamics, the
factors and dynamics influencing the use of ICT for learning in the clinical
environment was identified. An integration of the findings with supporting literature
resulted in two theoretical models, the knowledge building dynamic (KBD) model and
the contextual knowledge building dynamic (CKBD) model. These models assist in
understanding the cognitive processes involved in an individual’s learning process, the
influence of context and resulting dynamics on these processes, and subsequently,
learning with ICT.
- Conclusion
This research expands on current nursing education literature by exploring the
cognitive aspects of learning, specifically within the clinical environment. These are
shaped by contextual factors such as socio-cultural factors, and their influence on
students’ learning and use of clinical ICT. The theoretical models are relevant for
several applications in educational assessment and design, policy, and in learning itself
with the goal of improving the quality of patient care. | en |
