Can Mobile Learning Enhance Nursing Practice Education?

Abstract

The changing context of health care delivery presents challenges for the teaching and learning of nursing students. There is a need to test the utility of new strategies and tools to supervise students' practice at the point of care, to support their professional development, and to ensure the delivery of safe and effective care to clients in acute care and community settings. In particular, the connectivity potential of mobile devices for practice and teaching/learning remains unexplored.

This presentation will discuss a project to trial the use of mobile learning in the Baccalaureate of Nursing curriculum in a Western Canadian college program. To date, we have completed two studies: a two –stage, formative evaluation study of in spring, 2007, and a follow up study in fall, 2007. We will report on the main findings of the two field trials and draw conclusions about the usefulness of mobile learning in this context.