Conditions for the development of student nurses ICT capabilities

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Conditions for the development of student nurses
ICT capabilities

• Marian Willmer
• EdD

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Why ?

• Student nurses largest in number frequency and
  number of ICT sessions and number of students in
  each group presenting particular teaching
  challenges
• Own reflection and exploration of how to develop
  ICT teaching
• EdD presented opportunity to investigate and
  explore pedagogy involved

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Aims

• To contribute to the understanding of the use of
  ICT in one NHS Trust by providing a critical view
  of current ICT practice by adult branch student
  nurses.
• To critically examine the pedagogic and practical
  need for ICT in adult branch pre-registration
  nurse education.

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The Literature

• We are in an era when information technology (IT)
  is being harnessed throughout society (Radovan
  2001).
• The current Government has recognised (DoH,
  1997,1998, 2001) that appropriate use of
  information and technology is essential if the
  NHS is to be effective.
• The NHS needs to become part of the information
  age. The term information age is
  characterised by
• vast increases in knowledge, greatly improved
  access to that knowledge, and the widespread
  application of that knowledge in industrial and
  community contexts (George and Luke 1995, 3).

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The Literature continued

• Not only do nurses and educators therefore need
  to be competent in the use of ICT in order to
  become information literate, the 'real literacy
  of tomorrow' entails
• the ability to be your own personal reference
  librarian - to know how to navigate through
  confusing, complex information spaces and feel
  comfortable doing so.
• It is recognised that
• technology will play an increasingly
  important role in the future development of
  health care (Rosow and Grimes 2003, 307).

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LEARNING IS THE CHALLENGE

• The bigger challenge is to learn how to use new
  technology well..having the new systems is just
  the start of a process of change
• (DOH 2005, 32)
• DoH (2005) Creating a patient-led NHS
  delivering the NHS Improvement Plan. DH
  Publications.

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Research Questions

• How does the nursing practice environment affect
  student nurses usage of ICT?
• How do mentors influence student nurses
  engagement with the use of ICT?
• How are adult branch student nurses learning
  ICT in the nursing placement?

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How?

• Case study methodology - the case is student
  nurses use of ICT the context is adult nursing
  practice

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When, where and who?

• Data gathering took place in 2004
• Currently writing-up
• One local acute services NHS Trust
• Six student nurse volunteers four mentors in
  practice significant others e.g. Information
  manager, RD manager observational visits and
  nursing strategy document

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What was found?
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• The findings indicated that student nurses
  approach to their learning of ICT had a number of
  facets indicating that the instrumental approach
  to teaching was only an initial trigger for what
  was required with regard to ICT.

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Back to the literature

• Management Map
• CoP
• Information ecologies
• Digital Bricoleur

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Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)

• IT is not just a new tool with which to do
  traditional tasks
• It changes the way people perceive their world
  and introduces new dilemmas in terms of
  information for decision making

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Management Map (Knight and Silk 1990)

• Provides an over-arching framework that guided
  the overall approach to the literature review
• Seeks to link the individual student nurse and
  her role context within education and clinical
  practice, to the overall strategic environment
  driving her support systems and how these
  interact to affect her behaviour and attitudes.

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CoP

• Wenger argues a practice is
• in order to be able their job and have a
  satisfying experience at work. It is doing in an
  historical and social context that gives
  structure and meaning to what we do. (Wenger
  1998, 47).

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• Lave and Wenger (1991, 101-103) explained that
  becoming a 'full participant' in the CoP includes
  engaging with 'technologies of everyday
  practice'. They used the concept of ''fields of
  transparency" to understand how technology
  becomes useful within the CoP.
• 'transparency of technology always exists with
  respect to some purpose and is intricately tied
  to the cultural practice and social organisation
  within which the technology is meant to function'.

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Information ecology(Nardi and ODay 1999)

• An information ecology is
• 'a system of people, practices, values, and
  technologies in a particular local
  environment.the spotlight is on human activities
  that are served by technology' (Nardi and O'Day
  1999, 49)

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Locality of technology

• The locality of the technology, which for Nardi
  and O'Day (1999, 54-55) is the key to becoming an
  
• 'active participant in technological change
  as.only the participants of an information
  ecology can establish the identity and place of
  the technologies that are found there.. As
  users of tools, we are responsible for
  integrating them into settings of use in such a
  way that they make sense for us'.

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Digital bricoleur (Seely Brown 2002).

• In the future, when today's young become adult, a
  different learning ecology will have evolved
• Today's young people tend to 'multiprocess' -
  'they listen to music, talk on the phone, use the
  computer, all at the same time' (Seely Brown
  2002, 4).
• This together with four sets of dimensions
  (finding, building, judgement and action) may
  form a new way of creating knowledge. With
  'information navigation' comes 'discovery-based
  learning'.

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Implications

• Fostering of personal knowledge and development
  of ICT capability.
• Integrate ICT into curriculum
• Range of both practical ICT skills development
  sessions and information management sessions
• Explicit links between the use of ICT as a tool
  and module content
• Be summatively assessed.

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Where do we need/want to be with studentcentral
VLE?

• Integrating the continual learning of ICT
  through informal, incidental and formal learning,
  we can not only become competent with ICT, but we
  can develop ICT capability
• the integration of ICT knowledge, skills and
  attitudes, used appropriately and effectively, in
  response to new and changing contexts, tools and
  methods for leveraging knowledge for practice
• (my definition from the adaptation of Stephenson
  1992 and PÓr 2001).

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Conditions for the development of student nurses
ICT capability

• Realising ICT skills are needed
• Overcoming fear and increasing willingness to try
  new software and new ways of using ICT
• Adopting a termless approach to learning and
  wanting to learn
• Engagement in the use of ICT in an unrestricted
  way, with unrestricted computer access
• Knowing what is doable and meaningful in relation
  to ICT understanding the legal and ethical
  considerations related to the use of ICT

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Findings mapped to CoP and Information Ecologies
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Findings mapped to Management Map, CoP,
Information Ecologies
Trajectory of participation (ICT use in terms of
peripherality/marginality)
Inbound Trajectory Past history e.g. ICT
stories IDENTITY
Individual Nurse Membership of CoP through
Negotiation of meaning
Self of Student Nurse Imagination what is
doable, meaningful - overcoming fear
Mind Engagement - A termless approach to learning
and wanting to learn
Spirit Alignment realizing ICT skills are needed
Body Participation / Reification
Part of something bigger
Share ICT stories, simulations
Engage in use of ICT in unrestricted way, with
unrestricted computer access
Legal/ethical considerations
Try new ways, new software
ICT - use as Legitimate part of role
ICT - Capability
Using ICT - Right
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Recipe for ICT education for Student nurses