Perceptions and Intentions of Nursing Students Regarding Digital Health: Cross-Sectional Study

TL;DR

Nursing students in Quebec show varying levels of digital health skills and training, with older students more proficient but all feeling underprepared, highlighting the need for better digital training in nursing education.

Contribution

The study identifies a gap between institutional expectations and actual digital health training for nursing students, emphasizing the need for curricular reforms.

Findings

Third-year nursing students showed higher proficiency with digital tools like electronic medical records and virtual reality compared to first-year students.

Despite positive attitudes toward digital health technologies, students across all academic years reported low perceived training coverage for most tools.

The findings underscore the need for targeted curricular reforms to better align nursing education with the demands of technology-driven healthcare.

Abstract

The integration of digital health technologies (DHTs) in clinical practice is accelerating, creating a need for nursing students to develop digital competencies aligned with professional expectations. In Quebec, curricular reforms aim to enhance digital health literacy, but data are limited on students’ preparedness.

This study aimed to assess nursing students’ perceptions, self-reported competencies, and willingness to engage with DHTs across different academic years.

A cross-sectional descriptive survey assessing self-reported digital health competencies, attitudes, perceived training coverage, and intentions was conducted using an online questionnaire administered through Qualtrics. Participants (N=136) were recruited from 3 cohorts: first-year (group 1; n=58, 42.6%), second-year (group 2; n=55, 40.4%), and third-year (group 3; n=23, 16.9%) nursing students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVAs, with post hoc analyses performed via SPSS.

Significant differences were observed among cohorts concerning digital competencies and access to digital tools. Compared with first-year students (group 1), third-year students (group 3) showed higher proficiency with electronic medical records (group 3: mean 3.29, SD 1.31; group 1: mean 2.59, SD 1.32; P=.01), virtual reality (group 3: mean 4.53, SD 1.11; group 1: mean 2.90, SD 1.44; P<.001), and clinical databases (group 3: mean 4.59, SD 1.00; group 1: mean 3.21, SD 1.55; P<.001). Despite positive attitudes toward DHTs across all groups, training coverage for most digital tools was perceived as low, with the highest levels reported for clinical databases (mean 2.97, SD 1.1). This underscored a substantial gap between institutional expectations and actual digital training across all cohorts.

This study highlights critical gaps in digital health training among nursing students, emphasizing the need for targeted curricular reforms such as the one currently underway at the Université de Montréal. These efforts represent a promising opportunity to better align educational content with the evolving demands of health care systems. Today, preparing students in digital competencies is no longer just advantageous but may soon become essential for the next generation of nurses to navigate and lead within technology-driven care environments.