Didy Button

Introduction: Nursing informatics aims to improve patient care through rapid access to patient data, systematic assessment, a reduction in clinical errors, evidence-based practice, cost-effectiveness, and improved patient outcomes and safety. Background: Despite being the largest workforce in healthcare, nurses are not being adequately prepared to use nursing informatics, and this has been attributed to poor digital literacy, limited professional development, and a lack of undergraduate informatics education. Objectives: This scoping review aims to review contemporary published literature on the benefits, barriers, and enablers for embedding nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education with a focus on the Australian healthcare context. Methods: A scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA-ScR checklist and the JBI Manual for evidence synthesis in adherence with an a priori scoping review protocol. A comprehensive search of JBI, Cochrane, CINAHL, Ovid, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus databases was performed. Two reviewers independently screened the results via Covidence, with discrepancies resolved via a third reviewer. Results: Two searches were conducted for this scoping review. In the first search, a total of 3227 articles were identified through database searches, with an additional 76 articles identified through bibliographic and grey literature searches. Following duplicate removal and screening, 46 articles met the inclusion criteria. In the second search, a total of 1555 articles were identified, and after duplicate removal and screening, 16 articles met the inclusion criteria. Duplicate removal during the second search round included those articles identified in the first search. The combined searches resulted in a total of 62 sources for this review. Conclusions: Despite the early adoption of nursing informatics in Australia in the 1980s, barriers remain to effective nursing informatics engagement and proficiency, including a lack of understanding of nursing informatics, limited infrastructure and resources, inadequate digital literacy of students and faculty, and the evolving nature of nursing informatics. Definitions of nursing informatics and associated fields, development of university faculty competency, access to digital health technologies, competency standards, digital literacy of the student cohort, faculty digital proficiency, and leadership from professional nursing bodies are all viewed as integral foundations for the development of student competency in nursing informatics.

Background and Aims: Nurses are increasingly engaging with digital technologies to enhance safe, evidence-based patient care. Digital literacy is now considered a foundational skill and an integral requirement for lifelong learning, and includes the ability to search efficiently, critique information and recognise the inherent risk of bias in information sources. However, at many universities, digital literacy is assumed. In part, this can be linked to the concept of the Digital Native, a term first coined in 2001 by the US author Marc Prensky to describe young people born after 1980 who have been surrounded by mobile phones, computers, and other digital devices their entire lives. The objective of this paper is to explore the concept of the Digital Native and how it influences undergraduate nursing education. Materials and Methods: A pragmatic approach was used for this narrative review, working forward from Prensky’s definition of the Digital Native and backward from contemporary sources of information extracted from published health, education and nursing literature. Results: The findings from this narrative review will inform further understanding of digital literacy beliefs and how these beliefs influence undergraduate nursing education. Recommendations for enhancing the digital literacy of undergraduate nursing students are also discussed. Conclusions: Digital literacy is an essential requirement for undergraduate nursing students and nurses and is linked with safe, evidence-based patient care. The myth of the Digital Native negates the reality that exposure to digital technologies does not equate digital literacy and has resulted in deficits in nursing education programs. Digital literacy skills should be a part of undergraduate nursing curricula, and National Nursing Digital Literacy competencies for entry into practice as a Registered Nurse should be developed and contextualised to individual jurisdictions.

Background and Aims: Nurses are increasingly engaging with digital technologies to enhance safe, evidence-based patient care. Digital literacy is now considered a foundational skill and an integral requirement for lifelong learning, and includes the ability to search efficiently, critique information and recognise the inherent risk of bias in information sources. However, at many universities, digital literacy is assumed. In part, this can be linked to the concept of the Digital Native, a term first coined in 2001 by the US author Marc Prensky, to describe young people born after 1980 who have been surrounded by mobile phones, computers, and other digital devices their entire lives. The objective of this paper is to explore the concept of the Digital Native and how this influences undergraduate nursing education. Materials and Methods: A pragmatic approach has been used for this narrative review, working forward from Prensky’s definition of the Digital Native and backward from contemporary sources of information extracted from published health, education, and nursing literature. Results: The findings from this narrative review will inform further understanding of digital literacy beliefs and how these influence undergraduate nursing education. Recommendations for enhancing the digital literacy of undergraduate nursing students are also discussed. Conclusions: Digital literacy is an essential requirement for undergraduate nursing students and nurses, and is linked with safe, evidence-based patient care. The myth of the Digital Native negates the reality that exposure to digital technologies does not equate with digital literacy and has resulted in deficits in nursing education programs. Digital literacy skills should be a part of undergraduate nursing curricula, and National Nursing Digital Literacy competencies for entry into practice as a Registered Nurse should be developed and contextualised to individual jurisdictions.

Aim: To explore undergraduate nursing students' understanding of fundamental care and identify educational leadership opportunities to deepen students' understanding of fundamental care concepts.Design: Sequential‐explanatory mixed methods study.Methods: We conducted a cross sectional survey (n = 202) and focus groups (n = 24) to explore undergraduate nursing students' ability to identify fundamental care needs. All data were collected between November 2020 and April 2021. Survey data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and focus group data were thematically analysed.Results: Year One students scored significantly lower in their ability to identify fundamental care needs compared with students in other years, even after controlling for route, gender and age. Post‐degree students scored significantly higher than direct entry or transfer students. Students ≤19 years of age had significantly lower scores compared with students ≥25 years of age. Our focus group findings highlighted that students were often unable to define fundamental care, but they identified learning about various components of fundamental care in a variety of ways. While students understood that fundamental care was required in all settings, they were challenged in providing this care in acute and virtual settings. Students shared several suggestions to support fundamental care skills development across the curriculum.Conclusions: There is a need for a clear definition and description of the fundamentals of care that is used consistently by faculty, students and curriculum documents. It is important to encourage and support educators to share real‐world nursing stories, offer students time to share their personal experiences, develop creative learning opportunities and foster student reflection to deepen students' understanding of the fundamentals of care.Impact: Educators need support to meaningfully incorporate fundamentals of care learning opportunities across multiple care settings. Educational leaders can use these findings to develop or adapt their curricula to support fundamental care skill development.

Flight nurses (FNs) in Australia care for a wide diversity of patients as sole practitioners. No studies could be located regarding how FNs maintain their midwifery competence. The purpose of this study was to investigate how levels of competence in midwifery practice are determined amongst Australian FNs and explore if continuing professional development (CPD) contributes to the maintenance of FN’s midwifery clinical skills and knowledge. Data was collected using computer mediated communication and content analysed using a thematic framework. The results of this study showed that the maintenance of current midwifery practice was complex due to the low numbers of midwifery patients cared for by FNs. CPD was identified as essential however this research demonstrated a lack of motivation by this small group of FNs to attend CPD, mainly due to the absence of a programme that recognises the different context and scope of their practice.

High-fidelity simulation, with the potential to enhance cognitive, associative, and autonomous skills, can help students develop clinical reasoning. This study examined third-year students’ ( N = 300) perceptions about the implementation of high-fidelity simulation into an existing clinical course. Data were collected using an evaluation form completed by students after the simulation. Students perceived high-fidelity simulation as enjoyable, with an appropriate degree of challenge yet possessing congruency with concepts studied in the course. Students’ transient feelings of confusion were interpreted as a natural component of the problem solving process as they analyzed, clustered, and interpreted cues to respond to rapid changes in the simulated patient’s clinical condition. Debriefing was viewed as an important component and assisted in clarifying students’ knowledge and rationale for practice. Further research is required on the relationship between the degree of confusion and its impact on learning and whether high-fidelity simulation increases the ability to reason in the clinical setting.

The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of people living with a suprapubic catheter. This descriptive study was guided by the philosophy of Gadamerian hermeneutics. Data were gathered via indepth interviews with 6 adults living in the community who had a suprapubic catheter for long-term urinary bladder drainage. Interpretation of the data occurred via thematic analysis of the participants' stories. Two distinct but interrelated themes emerged. Participants shifted, over time, from negative to positive experiences (psychologically, physically, and practically) to adjustment to life with a catheter. Participants also related that health professionals had not adequately prepared or supported them as they learned to live with a suprapubic catheter. Many of the participants' initial negative experiences were augmented by this deficiency. Issues revolved around perceptions of being psychologically unprepared, the changed body image, altered sexuality, and support needs. The findings of this study revealed that the insertion of a suprapubic catheter brought about significant life changes for the participants. The data highlighted disparities between the needs of people who have a supra-pubic catheter and health professionals' perceptions of their needs.