Investigating the effectiveness of technologies applied to assist seniors: A systematic literature review.

Aim
The aim of this study was to report a systematic and psychometric review.

Background
The Nurse Competence Scale is currently the most widely used generic instrument to measure Registered Nurses’ competence in different phases of their careers. Based on a decade of research, this review provides a summary of the existing evidence.

Design
A systematic literature review of research evidence and psychometric properties.

Data sources
Nine databases from 2004 - October 2015.

Review methods
We retrieved scientific publications in English and Finnish. Two researchers performed data selection and appraised the methodological quality using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments checklist.

Results
A total of 30 studies reported in 43 publications were included. These consisted of over 11,000 competence assessments. Twenty studies were from Europe and 10 from outside Europe. In addition to experienced nurses, the Nurse Competence Scale has been used for the competence assessment of newly graduated nurses and nursing students, mainly in hospital settings. Length of work experience, age, higher education, permanent employment and participation in educational programmes correlated positively with competence. Variables including empowerment, commitment, practice environment, quality of care and critical thinking were also associated with higher competence. The Nurse Competence Scale has demonstrated good content validity and appropriate internal consistency.

Conclusion
The value of Nurse Competence Scale has been confirmed in determining relationships between background variables and competence. The instrument has been widely used with experienced and newly graduated nurses and their managers. Cross-cultural validation must be continued using rigorous methods.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jan.13183

Nurse Competence Scale: a systematic and psychometric review

Impact of computer training courses on reduction of loneliness of older people in Finland and Slovenia

Attitudes of active older Internet users towards online social networking

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can slow or reverse the progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, uptake of community-based CR is very low. E-cardiology, e-health and technology solutions for physical activity uptake and monitoring have evolved rapidly and have potential in CVD management. However, it is unclear what the current technology usage is of CVD patients, and their needs and interests for technology enabled CR. A technology usage questionnaire was developed and completed by patients from a supervised ambulatory CR program and an adult congenital heart disease clinic and from two community-based CR programs. Results were described and related with age, gender and educational level by Spearman correlations. Of 310 patients, 298 patients (77 % male; mean age 61,7 ± 14,5 years) completed at least 25 questions of the survey and were included in the analysis (completion rate 96 %). Most (97 %) patients had a mobile phone and used the internet (91 %). Heart rate monitors were used by 35 % and 68 % reported to find heart rate monitoring important when exercising at home. Physical activity monitoring was reported by 12 % of the respondents. Respondents were interested in CR support through internet (77 %) and mobile phone (68 %). Many patients reported interest in game-based CR (67 %) and virtual rehabilitation (58 %). At least medium interest in technology enabled CR was reported by 75 % of the patients. Interest decreased with increasing age (r = −0.16; p = 0.005). CVD patients show interest for technology enabled home-based CR. Our results could guide the design of a technology-based, virtual CR intervention.

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Cardiac patients show high interest in technology enabled cardiovascular rehabilitation.

Research literature production on nursing competences from 1981 till 2012: A bibliometric snapshot

Information and communication technologies (ICT) can enrich elderly people's lives in various ways. The objective of this interventional quasi-experimental research study among elderly people in Slovenia and Finland is to present associations and relations between computer/Internet use, physical activity and social inclusion before and after a ICT interaction. The first study (before interaction) included 58 (M=72,41) and the second study (after interaction) 45 (M=72,96) elderly people. The results showed an increased level of social inclusion and physical activity by the elderly after becoming acquainted with ICT. Additionally, through ICT interaction, the elderly people developed new friendships and so expanded their social networks, which they also found easier to maintain with support from ICT.

Information and communication technology as a tool for improving physical and social activity of the elderly.

Survey on specific nursing competences: Students' perceptions

Information and communication technology is developing rapidly and it is incorporated in many health care processes, but in spite of that fact we can still notice that nursing informatics competencies had received limited attention in basic nursing education curricula in Europe and especially in Eastern European countries. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a bibliometric analysis of the nursing informatics competencies scientific literature production. We applied the bibliometrics analysis to the corpus of 332 papers found in SCOPUS, related to nursing informatics competencies. The results showed that there is a positive trend in the number of published papers per year, indicating the increased research interest in nursing informatics competencies. Despite the fact that the first paper was published in Denmark, the most prolific country regarding the research in nursing informatics competencies is United States as are their institutions and authors.

Nursing Informatics Competencies: Bibliometric Analysis

Aging of population is an inevitable process by which the number of elderly people is increasing Rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) is changing basic needs of elderly people; therefore society should ensure opportunities for elderly to learn and use ICT in a way to manage their daily life activities and in this way enable them participation in the information and knowledge society The purpose of the study was to find out whether elderly are acquainted with the advanced technology and to what extent they use it or they desire to use it Within the single point study we interviewed 100 randomly selected elderly people from different geographical regions in Slovenia Results showed the differences in the use of advanced technology by Slovenian regions; therefore in the future activities should be focused on organizing promotional and demonstrational activities including ICT courses to increase elderly's motivation for ICT interaction

Helena Blažun

Papers

Research literature production on nursing competences from 1981 till 2012: A bibliometric snapshot

Information and communication technology as a tool for improving physical and social activity of the elderly.

Survey on specific nursing competences: Students' perceptions

Nursing Informatics Competencies: Bibliometric Analysis

Elderly people's interaction with advanced technology.