Preparation of the contemporary nursing graduate requires an educational approach that harnesses the opportunities of the information age and encourages life-long learning and critical, creative thinking. Effective health care will mirror quality innovations in nursing education that promote knowledge worker competencies. Thus, the purpose of the study was to describe the experiences and behaviors of beginning nursing students when using an innovative pedagogy to teach nursing process. The innovation was an electronic health record with embedded domain knowledge and decision support. Case study design was used to yield descriptive data in a naturalistic paradigm of inquiry. The setting for the study was a Midwestern University School of Nursing, which was equipped with state-of-the art information technology. A criterion, purposive sample was obtained. Informants were members of a seminar group of eight students who were led by an experienced nursing instructor. The sampling units consisted of observations of the seminar group when using information technology, interviews about the experiences, evaluation of student care plans that were generated when using the technology, case studies used during the activity, and the technology itself. Currently, data collection and simultaneous analysis are taking place over the 16 week semester that the information technology is being used as an instructional tool. An inductive content analysis method is being utilized to accomplish data reduction and synthesis. Early analysis of the students’ experiences with information technology has provided the following theme: a learner-centered activity that bridges data gatherer and user roles to the uncharted terrain of constructing personalized knowledge. Further analysis is intended to yield building blocks for technology based, learner-centered theory in nursing education that will enhance knowledge worker excellence in nursing practice.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)