Computer Competence for Nurse Educators

This rapidly advancing technology extends into all aspects of nursing with sophisticated monitoring systems, automated patient-care information systems, patient documentation tools and clinical simulations for enhancement of nursing instruction.

Abstract

The Delphi technique, with an evaluation panel of 56 educators from 28 states during Round One and 55 in Round Two, was used as a method of collecting and organizing judgments of present and future needs for computer competence. Competence statements covered psychomotor, cognitive and affective issues in using the computer and related technology in nursing practice and teaching. Judged to be highly important were 45 of the 68 possible present needs and 44 of the 64 future needs. It was concluded that the most pressing needs for nursing educators are for knowledge of computer technology, information on how to use the computer as an instructional tool, recognition of the nurse's role and issues of computer use in health care and use of the nursing process in the development of computerized care plans.