Telehealth and Telenursing Perception and Knowledge Among University Students of Nursing in Poland

Abstract

Objective: Telehealth and telenursing are becoming the new reality in studying nursing. Little is known whether undergraduate nursing students receive adequate education on telenursing for patient care. The aim for this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of nursing students toward telenursing. Subjects and Methods: Students of nursing faculties from medical universities in Poland were invited to complete a survey about telehealth and telenursing. The survey was conducted utilizing a Web-based surveying platform (www .mini-ankiety.pl). Results: We surveyed 308 undergraduate students of nursing faculty-291 females (94%) and 17 males (6%)-from medical universities in Poland. There were 116 students in their first year (course) (38%) and 96 students each in the second and third years (31%). Most of the students (220 [71%]) in the study group were in the age range from 20 to 23 years. The accurate definition of telemedicine was identified by 251 (82%) respondents. The definition of telenursing was recognized properly by 230 (75%) respondents. Of the students, 207 (67%) would anticipate telenursing service implementation into the national healthcare system, and 214 (69.49%) would appreciate the addition of telenursing classes to the curriculum. Students from a few universities showed significantly higher willingness to introduce telenursing classes into nursing curriculum and the intention to use telenursing services in their future nursing practice. The difference among universities could be influenced by regional e-health initiatives. This study has shown the rise of trust in technology along with the increase in the year of nursing study. Conclusions: The current generation of university students of nursing seems to be well educated in medical informatics and technology use. They are better prepared for and open to information society membership, including the practice of telehealth. The advancement in university education has an influence on positive attitudes toward telenursing and may become a milestone in the development of e-health in Poland.

Evaluation of nurse’s performance in telemedicine

“…For the nurse, the tele-nursing segment is recent and its performance needs training in technological resources and in the new work process. For this, this training needs to be started at the undergraduate level in order to follow the current technological era (16) .…”

Telemedicine and eHealth in Poland from 1995 to 2015

“…2 The acceptance of telemedicine and eHealth solutions is increasing in the general population and even undergraduate medical professionals. 2,9,10 This review did not explicitly distinguish between telemedicine and eHealth applications in order to capture the broadest picture of research in this area in Poland to date. The current review reveals a few interesting trends.…”

“…[44][45][46] The knowledge and attitude of nursing students toward telenursing were surveyed. 47 Internet-based medical information use is represented well in several medical specialties. 7,8,48,49 Other papers describe various telemedicine and eHealth technologies used in real or virtual patient care, and some even address the outdated but still operational use of the phone for teleconsultations.…”

Effect of Telenursing and Diabetes Self-Management Education Towards Fasting Blood Glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus

“…Telenursing (Telephone Follow-Up) can be considered as one of the aforesaid method [15]. In addition to education, follow-up by telephone is established by creating links to continuous dynamic treatment, followed by improving the quality of life of patients, reducing complications, increasing patient satisfaction, and improving health and service quality [14], [16].…”

“…Telenursing is one of the methods considered by the American Nursing Association focusing on the delivery, management, coordination and service of patient treatment using telecommunications technology used in the field of nursing [15], [16]. Telenursing enables patient monitoring, health education, data collection, nursing interventions, pain management and family support through technology without time and distance constraints [17].…”