George Mason University
| Home | Syllabus | Introduction | Use of Technology | Advantages of Technology | Disadvantages of Technology | Nursing Bibliography |
The use of technology is increasingly becoming part of a comprehensive strategy to address nursing needs and strategies (Byrne, 2005). This is progressively becoming more popular in the development of nursing education, and preparing the future nursing students of the ability to perform computer tasks. Today’s expectation that faculty will use electronic technologies in their teaching, can be particularly stressful for nursing faculty with little or no computer knowledge (Axley, 2008). With the added stress of nursing educators, many are realizing that they have to be supportive of this new trend, and to become more involved in this new type of innovation. Programs to prepare faculty to gain the requisite knowledge and experience needed for implementing technology as a teaching strategy must be developed (Axley, 2008). However, in order for information technology tools to be used, organizational and other factors must be considered (Byrne, 2005). As noted, the health care industry is also a very complicated, highly regulated, transaction-driven industry, still dependent on paper-based systems (Byrne, 2005). In 2005 Johnson listed employers, including those who hire nurses, who require computer literacy as one of the important trends impacting nursing education. These bring many reasons for the need to educate more of the traditional nursing skills, and to modernize their ability of functioning with the guide of computers. It can narrow the gaps between knowledge, and the practice of improving the performances of nurse’s (Byrne, 2005). Nursing education will have no choice to prepare nursing students in as many ways as possible to work in a highly technological environment (Axley, 2008).