Telehealth Simulation: An Online Clinical Experience

Telephone Triage Simulation in an Asynchronous Advanced Practice Nursing Course

ABSTRACT

The use of simulation in advanced practice nursing programs is widespread; however, few simulations focus on telehealth skills. Those that do typically consist of synchronous activities. This article describes an innovative activity in an asynchronous course using the VoiceThread platform. The activity simulates a telephone triage call a family or pediatric nurse practitioner might receive in actual practice.

Digital Health Education and Training for Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

As technology will continue to play a pivotal role in modern-day health care and given the potential impact on the nursing profession, it is vitally important to examine the types and features of digital health education in nursing so that graduates are better equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to provide safe and quality nursing care and to keep abreast of the rapidly evolving technological revolution.

OBJECTIVE

In this scoping review, we aimed to examine and report on available evidence about digital health education and training interventions for nursing students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

METHODS

This scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). A comprehensive search strategy was developed and applied to identified bibliographic databases including MEDLINE (Ovid; 1946 to present), Embase (Ovid; 1974 to present), CINAHL (EBSCOhost; 1936 to present), ERIC (EBSCOhost; 1966 to present), Education Research Complete (EBSCOhost; inception to present), and Scopus (1976 to present). The initial search was conducted on March 3, 2022, and updated searches were completed on January 11, 2023, and October 31, 2023. For gray literature sources, the websites of select professional organizations were searched to identify relevant digital health educational programs or courses available to support the health workforce development. Two reviewers screened and undertook the data extraction process. The review included studies focused on the digital health education of students at the undergraduate or graduate levels or both in a nursing program. Studies that discussed instructional strategies, delivery processes, pedagogical theory and frameworks, and evaluation strategies for digital health education; applied quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods; and were descriptive or discussion papers, with the exception of review studies, were included. Opinion pieces, editorials, and conference proceedings were excluded.

RESULTS

A total of 100 records were included in this review. Of these, 94 records were identified from database searches, and 6 sources were identified from the gray literature. Despite improvements, there are significant gaps and limitations in the scope of digital health education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, consequently posing challenges for nursing students to develop competencies needed in modern-day nursing practice.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an urgent need to expand the understanding of digital health in the context of nursing education and practice and to better articulate its scope in nursing curricula and enforce its application across professional nursing practice roles at all levels and career trajectories. Further research is also needed to examine the impact of digital health education on improving patient outcomes, the quality of nursing care, and professional nursing role advancement.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.11124/JBIES-22-00266.

Telehealth across nursing education: Findings from a national study

Background

The onset of COVID-19 perpetuated the necessity for nursing students to be telehealth savvy upon graduation. There is minimal research regarding the integration of telehealth in nursing curricula across multiple levels.

Purpose

The purpose of this survey study was to determine the current or future use of telehealth content and experiences in prelicensure and graduate nursing program curricula.

Methods

Following vetting, an adapted survey was sent to 386 nursing program or simulation directors in June 2020.

Findings

The survey had a 21 % (n = 82) response rate. Fifty-five percent of prelicensure and 40 % of graduate programs had no telehealth curricular content, while 22 % and 45 %, respectively, planned to integrate. The top barrier to integration was a lack of funds.

Discussion

Further research is needed to evaluate telehealth in nursing curricula. Due to many factors, the addition of telehealth curricula in nursing schools is inevitable.