Professional Experience Placement

This study by my colleagues and I was recently published by JMIR mHealth uHealth. It was a study undertaken earlier this year to gain further understanding about what mobile device access student nurses have while in practice and when they are not. Students who did not have access to a mobile or portable device were filtered out of the survey after the demographic section. Students undertaking PEP during semester 5, 2014 were offered the opportunity to complete survey. The survey used a previously validated tool developed by McBride et al (2013). The findings indicated that students accessed mobile devices for non-work related activities more often away from the workplace. Study related activities were also conducted more frequently away from the workplace. There were a range of activities that were accessed both during professional experience or work integrated learning. These activities included drug, nursing, medical information or professional education. Students reported they did not shop on the internet, check or post on social networking sites, play online or offline games or conduct personal business on line.

Students reported they did not access sites for patient handouts and teaching, nor did they communicate with members of the health care team to coordinate patient or client care.

This study provides information about the behaviour of undergraduate nurses in accessing mobile devices. It provides evidence about what the next generation of registered nurses understand to be appropriate behaviour during and away from the workplace. While distraction may occur while using a mobile device, this study found it was unlikely due to student nurses accessing non-work related sites.

This study also highlights the lost opportunities that lack of access to mobile devices or resources creates. The opportunities to engage patients in their own care through education or showing them where to access to web-based resources or for communicating with other members of the health care team to coordinate care were not undertaken. Development of competency and being work-ready at graduation is contributed by being able to model the behaviour of their preceptors and clinical supervisors. If they are unable or not encouraged to use the available resources this can hinder or undermine the development of professional identity and promote the theory-practice gap.

The implications of this study for clinical supervisors is their modelling of appropriate behaviour and guiding students in appropriate behaviour that includes ensuring they use mobile devices within the organisational and professional guidelines. If they can access their mobile devices in the workplace, it is important to ensure they learn how to use the technology responsibly to improve health outcomes.

If you have any comments about accessing mobile devices in the workplace, you are welcome to post them here. Join us @PEPCommunity.

This is the last blog for 2014.    Please join us when blogs recommence on 13 January 2015. I wish you all the best for the arrival of a safe and healthy 2015.