Determination of Nurse educators' readiness regarding the use of technology for a new Nursing Programme

Abstract

Introduction Rapidly expanding and increasing introduction of technology in nursing care necessitates the readiness of nurse educators to include technology in the presentation of a new nursing programme. Although technology resources like computers, high-fidelity manikins, and smartboards have been available for the programme that is phasing out, these equipment were not often used. As a new contemporary outcomes-based, community-focused and primary healthcare-driven nursing programme was planned, there was a serious concern about the nurse educators’ readiness to incorporate technology as planned. Technology readiness is a process by which the acceptance constructs of attitude, perceived usefulness, innovativeness of users, and many adaption factors that could have influenced the technology readiness index level, are determined. The level and aspects of readiness are used as predictors for the likelihood of success of the integration of technology in a new programme. Aims and objectives Therefore, the study aimed to determine the readiness regarding the use of technology by the nurse educators at the South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) Nursing College. Possible barriers and enablers that could influence the readiness will also be described. Research design A quantitative descriptive study was conducted to determine the readiness of nurse educators regarding the use of technology for a new programme at SAMHS Nursing College. Methods The sampling technique was a total population sampling of nurse educators at the SAMHS Nursing College, where all were invited to participate in the study. Data was collected through a self-administered structured questionnaire, namely the Technology Readiness Index 2.0, as obtained from the developers. The statistician used the Statistical Analysis System (SAS v.9.4) software programme to complete the data analysis. Significance of the study The results of this study could be used by the management of the SAMHS Nursing College to assist in planning regarding technology integration by nurse educators in the new nursing programme when a clearer picture or statistical information and graphs are available regarding readiness. Including effective use of technology may contribute to increased academic excellence and improved quality in nursing education. Results/Findings The results indicated that most (77%) of the nurse educators were highly ready, 21% were moderately ready and only 2% were not ready to use technology. Conclusion An overall conclusion emanating from this study where information has been gathered on the use of technology in nursing education that could benefit future performances. The use of technology can potentially transform the teaching and learning environment significantly and consequently contribute to positive learning outcomes. However, this study has revealed that the SAMHS Nursing College has been challenged in incorporating technology into the instructional system.