Digital Health in Canadian Schools of Nursing Part A: Nurse Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

Introduction: While much progress has been achieved in advancing nursing informatics capacity in Canada, more work is needed to keep pace with the 21st century technological revolution. Nursing education programs and nurse educators are at the forefront of this change, and are key to ensuring successful integration of digital health technologies in future nursing practice.

Methods: In 2018, a mixed methods study was conducted including a survey of nursing school administrators and nurse educators, telephone interviews, and one focus group meeting to understand the current state of digital health and informatics content integration in nursing curricula within Canadian schools of nursing. In this paper, we report on findings pertinent to nurse educators’ perspectives; findings from the nurse administrator survey will be reported separately.

Results: Congruent with the general literature, findings from this study suggest that the challenges for nurse educators to realize informatics integration in nursing curricula are universal. A developing awareness of CASN’s entry-to-practice informatics competencies and a strong interest and desire among nurse educators to respond to current demands for advancing the digital health learning needs of future nurses are evident. However, there are still gaps and challenges in digital health content integration that need to be addressed.

Conclusion: Realizing the vision of adequately prepared nursing workforce for digital health requires a shift in thinking about the role of informatics in nursing education and practice, as well as concerted efforts by all stakeholders. In view of the current technological revolution impacting all sectors of society including health care, nurse educators are in a unique position to shape the future of nursing practice. Educator engagement and administrative leader support within every Canadian school of nursing are vital for overcoming barriers and advancing the informatics capacity of all future nurses.