Enhancing computer literacy and information retrieval skills: A rural and remote nursing and midwifery workforce study.

TLDR: Findings from the study demonstrate that participants who complete a relevant CPD program gain confidence in the use of information and communication technologies, and this leads to increased access to contemporary, reliable and important health care information on the Internet, in addition to clinicians adopting email as a regular method of communication.

About: This article is published in Collegian.The article was published on 2015-09-01 and is currently open access. It has received 20 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Health care & Health informatics.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in this paper?

Maintaining currency of practice and attaining annual licensure with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority ( AHPRA ) present challenges for individual nurses and midwives and for their health service managers. This paper presents a pre and post-­‐test study design. The aims of the program were to increase basic skill acquisition in the utilisation of common computer software, the use of the Internet and the enhancement of email communication. However, findings from this study contradict such assumptions. Further, increased confidence leads to increased access to contemporary, reliable and important health care information on the Internet, in addition to clinicians adopting email as a regular method of communication. 

Q2. How many rural nurses and midwives have participated in the program?

Since  the  original  pilot  of  the  program,  as  reported  in  this  manuscript,  over  600  rural  nurses  and  midwives  successfully  participated  in  this  ongoing  initiative. 

Q3. How many participants were excluded from the post-test?

Sixty-‐three  participated  in  the  post-‐test  of  which  four  could  not  be  matched  with  the  pre-‐test  participants  and  were  excluded  (SPSS  Incorporated,  2007). 

Q4. How many participants were confident in finding, opening, reading, responding, creating and sending e?

Over  98%  [n=58]  of  the  participants  reported  that  after  completing  the  program,  they  were  confident  or  experienced  in  finding,  opening,  reading,  responding,  creating  and  sending  e-‐mails. 

Q5. What is the purpose of the paper?

In  this  paper  the  authors  present  the  outcomes  of  an  online  CPD  program,  which  was  offered  to  Australian  rural  nurses  and  midwives. 

Q6. How many participants felt unsure after the program?

On  completion  of  the  program  95.6%  [n=57]  of  the  participants  indicated  that  being  able  to  access  health  resources  on  the  internet  was  important  or  very  important  with  continuing  3.4%  [n=2]  to  feel  unsure. 

Q7. How many participants now use the Internet for discussing interests?

Only  12  participants  (20.3%)  indicated  that  they  now  used  the  Internet  for  discussing  interests  with  like-‐minded  people  compared  to  eight  (13.5%)  in  the  pre-‐program  reports.