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

Abstract

BACKGROUND As technology will continue to play a pivotal role in modern-day healthcare and 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 for providing safe and quality nursing care and for them to keep abreast with the rapidly evolving technological revolution. OBJECTIVE The scoping review aims to examine and report on available evidence about digital health education and training interventions for nursing students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. METHODS The scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A comprehensive search strategy was developed and applied to identified bibliographic databases including MEDLINE (Ovid; 1946–present), Embase (Ovid; 1974–present), CINAHL (EBSCOhost; 1936–present), ERIC (EBSCOhost; 1966–present), Education Research Complete (EBSCOhost; inception-present), and Scopus (1976–present). The initial search was conducted on March 03, 2022, and updated searches were completed on January 11, 2023, and October 31, 2023. Due to the volume of the included studies, a hand-search of the included studies could not be completed for additional studies. For grey literature sources, the websites of select professional organizations were searched to identify relevant digital health educational programs/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/frameworks, and evaluation strategies for digital health education, and applied quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and 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. Out of these, 94 records were identified from database searches and six sources were 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 As the digital health ecosystem continues to evolve, nursing education and practice must evolve too. 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. CLINICALTRIAL Review registration number: Open Science Framework osf.io/42eug. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-DOI: 10.11124/JBIES-22-00266