Digital divides in nursing students: an exploration of the relationship between self-perceived digital competencies and digital barriers
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| Titel: | Digital divides in nursing students: an exploration of the relationship between self-perceived digital competencies and digital barriers |
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| Autoren: | Konstantina Martzoukou, Errol Sadullah Luders, Fiona Work, Petros A. Kostagiolas, Neil Johnson |
| Quelle: | Journal of Documentation. 81:330-350 |
| Verlagsinformationen: | Emerald, 2025. |
| Publikationsjahr: | 2025 |
| Schlagwörter: | Academic libraries, Digital competencies, Digital literacy, Healthcare, Higher education, Nursing, Nursing education, Digital skills, Information literacy |
| Beschreibung: | PurposeIn the context of nursing in higher education, digital competencies are increasingly recognised as a necessary skillset, within a continuously evolving healthcare professional landscape. This study sought to explore nursing students’ digital competencies and to further understand the digital literacy gaps and barriers they encounter for both learning and future work.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved a cross-sectional, discipline-based empirical study of nursing students’ self-assessed digital competencies via a questionnaire survey, which collected quantitative and qualitative data from a total of five hundred and fifty-three students. The study explored the role of demographics (age, urban/rural geographical location of growing up, study year, learning disabilities (neurodiversity)) and experiences of digital divides (e.g., access, contextual and behavioural barriers) play on students’ digital competencies and outcomes.FindingsStudents’ digital competencies were found at an intermediate level, with younger and first-year students self-assessing higher. Significant differences were identified between students who had encountered digital barriers/divides and those who had not, with the former, self-reporting lower digital competencies. Students with learning disabilities reported complex support needs for processing and organizing digital information and for productivity. Almost all the individual digital competencies items assessed had strong statistical correlations between them.Originality/valueThe research offers key recommendations for academic libraries for the ongoing, evolving exploration of students’ digital competencies and for the need to follow tailored, discipline-related, holistic, practice-based and curriculum-embedded approaches to students’ digital skills development and support. It provides novel insights into digital competencies development for nursing students, particularly those who experience digital divides. |
| Publikationsart: | Article |
| Sprache: | English |
| ISSN: | 1758-7379 0022-0418 |
| DOI: | 10.1108/jd-09-2024-0209 |
| Zugangs-URL: | https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2571831 |
| Rights: | Emerald Insight Site Policies CC BY NC |
| Dokumentencode: | edsair.doi.dedup.....1f0104c068c1eb17f2e0fa99e9ba339c |
| Datenbank: | OpenAIRE |
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Nájsť tento článok vo Web of Science | Abstract: | PurposeIn the context of nursing in higher education, digital competencies are increasingly recognised as a necessary skillset, within a continuously evolving healthcare professional landscape. This study sought to explore nursing students’ digital competencies and to further understand the digital literacy gaps and barriers they encounter for both learning and future work.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved a cross-sectional, discipline-based empirical study of nursing students’ self-assessed digital competencies via a questionnaire survey, which collected quantitative and qualitative data from a total of five hundred and fifty-three students. The study explored the role of demographics (age, urban/rural geographical location of growing up, study year, learning disabilities (neurodiversity)) and experiences of digital divides (e.g., access, contextual and behavioural barriers) play on students’ digital competencies and outcomes.FindingsStudents’ digital competencies were found at an intermediate level, with younger and first-year students self-assessing higher. Significant differences were identified between students who had encountered digital barriers/divides and those who had not, with the former, self-reporting lower digital competencies. Students with learning disabilities reported complex support needs for processing and organizing digital information and for productivity. Almost all the individual digital competencies items assessed had strong statistical correlations between them.Originality/valueThe research offers key recommendations for academic libraries for the ongoing, evolving exploration of students’ digital competencies and for the need to follow tailored, discipline-related, holistic, practice-based and curriculum-embedded approaches to students’ digital skills development and support. It provides novel insights into digital competencies development for nursing students, particularly those who experience digital divides. |
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| ISSN: | 17587379 00220418 |
| DOI: | 10.1108/jd-09-2024-0209 |