Dganit Sharon

How to enhance nursing students' intention to use information technology: the first step before integrating it in nursing curriculum.

Today, in the 21st century, information technology has an important and critical role in the healthcare delivery system. Nursing educators already know and understand that they should integrate nursing informatics into the nursing curriculum to prepare future nurses for the new world of information technology. However, as of now, the core program of nursing studies in Israel does not put an emphasis on the skills required to properly use nursing informatics. The present research is the first step toward achieving this target by recognizing the importance of the human factor. The main goal is to examine the correlation between nursing students’ attitudes and a number of variables: self-efficacy, threat, challenge, and innovativeness. This quantitative study used a convenience sample of nursing students in a bachelor’s degree program at a large academic center in central Israel. Results show significant positive correlations between nursing students’ attitudes to computer use and self-efficacy, a sense of challenge in using a computer, a sense of threat in using a computer, and previous experience with computers. The insights of these results will benefit nursing educators by helping them find creative ways to expose the students to the world of information technology and to improve the quality of future nurses.

Intentions of nurses and nursing students to tell the whole truth to patients and family members.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To investigate the intentions of nurses and nursing students to telling the truth to patients and families, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior which examines intention to perform behaviours. BACKGROUND In recent decades, the perception that patients have a moral and legal right to truthful and reliable information has become dominant. However, the study of telling the truth to non-oncology patients has received scant attention and little is known about the intention of nurses and nursing students to tell the truth. DESIGN A cross-sectional design. METHODS We used a scenario-based questionnaire, illustrating eight different situations in which nurses/nursing students are asked to tell the truth to a patient or family member regarding a devastating disease with which the patient is afflicted. Data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and ridge regression. RESULTS The sample included 150 participants, 110 registered nurses and 40 third year nursing students, with a response rate of 87%. The results show that nurses and nursing students intend to tell the whole truth even if this is not easy for them. Nurses more than students think that it is important to tell the whole truth and intend to do so. Head nurses tend to tell the truth more than staff nurses. For nurses, the components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour predicted intention to tell the truth, whereas among students subjective norms were the only predictor of intention. CONCLUSION The Theory of Planned Behaviour is a powerful predictor of nurse intention to tell the whole truth to patients and their families. Students perceive social pressure as the most important incentive of their intention to tell the truth. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Nurses and nursing students should receive additional training in dealing with various situations involving truth telling.

Does the level of emotional intelligence affect the degree of success in nursing studies

BACKGROUND Emotional intelligence (EI) reflects the general capacity to comprehend emotions (in ourselves and in others), to regulate emotions, and to cope effectively with emotional situations. The study program in nursing is varied, and includes theoretical and practical aspects, but teaching EI is not part of the core curriculum. We argue that teaching EI should not only be included in the curriculum, but that EI tests should be included in the admissions process. OBJECTIVE This study reviews the relationship between EI level and the degree of success in nursing studies, and its importance. PARTICIPANTS A convenience sample of 110 academic nursing students was examined. METHODS Three data collection methods were employed: 1) A socio-demographic questionnaire; 2) Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI); 3) Psychometric scores and grade transcripts. RESULTS A positive correlation between the level of EI and the degree of success in nursing studies among nursing students was found. EI levels improved during the second year of learning. Among nursing students, the annual average grade was related to emotional intelligence rather than psychometric scores at the time of admission. CONCLUSION There is a need to increase the importance of EI in the terms of nursing students admission and basic nursing curriculums.

The Impact of Nursing Students’ Cultural Diversity on the Intention and Attitudes Toward the Use of Information Technology

This research highlights the evidences that: The greater the threat, the lower the attitude toward information technology is, and the greater the sense of challenge, the greater self-efficacy is. Innovativeness was found to be a behavioral intention predictor in two groups, secular Jews and Arabs. This study provides nurses and nurse educators with some valuable insights about how culture, religion, and education may influence nursing students’ attitudes toward information technology.

Integrating Information Technology’s competencies into academic nursing education–An action study

Abstract Today, in the digital age, we are committed to prepare the future nurse for the information technology-rich workplace, and to help them reducing the “shock reality” upon arriving at the clinical setting. The main aim of the study is to promote the knowledge of Information Competencies Technology among nurses’ educators and student. The method was an action research process that started by collecting the data—by literature review, nurses’ interviews and students’ survey, analyzing and interpreting the data, and developing a plan of action, including curriculum change for the students and workshops for the nurse educators. Two benefits were driven from this action: updating and developing academic courses and adopting pedagogic tools for nurses’ educators. In conclusion, the overarching theme of this project is the need for Information Technology to be integrated within the larger body of the nursing learning program, and its implication for educators and students.

Situated learning: The feasibility of an experimental learning of information technology for academic nursing students

Abstract As part of the Bachelor’s degree of nursing education, nursing students are exposed to the increasingly complex world of Information Technology. Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of a situated learning approach for Information Technology course by assessing students’ perceptions at the end of the course. Methods: Course participants completed a pre and post-course survey describing their knowledge and perceptions of the course. Results and discussion: Results demonstrated increased knowledge and satisfaction with this new learning strategy, which was also apparent in their good final course grades. Students had considerably more knowledge after the course (comparing to pre course survey), with a positive correlation between students’ perception of the usefulness of the course and their knowledge after completion of the course. Therefore, enhancing learning using a simulated learning curriculum may allow students to be more aware of the challenges that nurses face in actual practice, and may provide a more contextualized understanding of the issues relating to Information Technology.

The Amuta: An Israeli model of caring for disenfranchised mourners

Abstract Unmarried partners of soldiers who have died on active duty in Israel have traditionally been excluded from the recognised ‘family of bereaved’. They may be seen as a distinct group of disenfranchised mourners. A non-government organisation (The Amuta) was created in 1997 to provide emotional support, counselling, and remembrance ceremonies to these young men and women. The support offered aims both to acknowledge their loss and help them plan for the future. This paper reports the findings from a small-scale quantitative study of the experiences of some of the people who have sought help from The Amuta. The model of care it describes may be helpful to people bereaved in similar situations in other countries.