Available online 7 March 2023, 103597

Author links open overlay panel, , , , ABSTRACTBackground

Online learning, also known as e-learning, has increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now an important feature of nursing education globally. An understanding of registered nurses’ online self-regulated learning, attitudes to e-learning and the relationship of these to attitudes to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in healthcare facilitates successful educational outcomes.

Objective

To explore the association between registered nurses’ attitudes to e-learning and self-regulated online learning skills on their attitudes towards the use of ICT in healthcare.

Design

A quantitative study employing a cross-sectional survey.

Settings and participants: A convenience sample of registered nurses (n=120) enrolled in a nursing degree conversion program delivered in Singapore.

Methods

Participants (n= 120) completed an online anonymous survey consisting of three validated instruments (Information Technology Attitude Scale for Health (ITASH), Attitudes towards e-learning and, Online Self-regulated Learning Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics analyses were conducted.

Results

Participant’s levels of online self-regulated learning were positively correlated with attitudes to e-learning (r= 0.663, p<0.001). Attitudes to e-learning (70.4, SD 11.5) were also positively predictive of ITASH (R2 = 0.306, p<0.001), but online self-regulated learning was not contributory to the prediction of attitudes to ICT in healthcare.

Conclusions

It is recommended that educators involved in online learning focus on strategies aimed at promoting positive attitudes to e-learning and ICT prior to employing those aimed at developing online self-regulation skills. Further research exploring online learning and ICT needs in the workplace are required.

Section snippetsINTRODUCTION

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in nursing and healthcare has increased considerably in recent decades and is now an essential component of the management and delivery of services in healthcare organisations across many countries (Chua, 2020, Konttila et al., 2019). Technology has also gained prominence in education, with online learning now commonly used in nursing and healthcare at all l education. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted higher

BACKGROUND

In recent decades, ICT has been gaining prominence in nursing and professional healthcare education in the form of online learning (Yontz et al., 2015, George et al., 2014) and is now a widely used and important feature of education at all at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in many countries (Maatuk et al., 2021). Also commonly referred to as “e-learning” (electronic learning), online learning can be described as “any form of learning conducted partly or wholly over the Internet” and

Study design

This study used a cross-sectional survey design. This was considered appropriate given that achieving the aim of the study required the efficient collection of a large volume of data on multiple variables from a sample of registered nurses at a single point in time (Wang & Cheng, 2020).

Setting and Participants

A convenience sample of registered nurses enrolled in an Australian Bachelor of Nursing degree conversion program delivered in Singapore were recruited to the study. This program is delivered to diploma-level

Demographic information

Data were collected from February 2020 - August 2021 and a convenience sample of 120 registered nurses completed the anonymous electronic survey from a total of 189 enrolled in the degree, (63% response rate). Most respondents were female (n = 106; 88.3%), with 50% (n = 60) aged < 25 years. Most respondents identified as being of Chinese ethnicity (n = 70; 58.3%), followed by Malay (n = 2; 19.3%). Over 9% (n = 11, 9.2%) reported their ethnicity as Indian with 13% (n= 16) self-identifying as

DISCUSSION

It is undisputed that recent advances in information and communications technology have not only revolutionised healthcare and had an impact on nurses’ work but have also influenced nurse education (Harerimana & Mtshali, 2020; Tubaisaht, 2014). Online learning is now ubiquitous across a range of educational settings and, this has been especially evident during the pandemic when social isolation directives were the impetus for the widespread transformation of face-to-face teaching to online

LIMITATIONS

While the conduct of this study was rigorous and addressed a topic that has relevance for nurse educators across the world several limitations must be acknowledged. Firstly, the use of a convenience sample of registered nurses studying at one university limits the generalisation of results to other settings especially those with differences in demography, use of technology in education and healthcare and online learning environments. Modification of the of the original four-point Likert scale

CONCLUSION

This study showed that there is a complex interaction between e-learning attitudes, self-regulated learning and attitudes to ICT in the healthcare. We have shown that attitudes towards ICT in healthcare are related to how registered nurses perceive their e-learning capabilities. Importantly, this should be factored into the development of future online educational initiatives. Findings also demonstrated positive relationships between e-learning attitudes and self-regulated online learning

Uncited references

(Broadbent and Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, 2018, Chen et al., 2014, De Vaus, 2002, Deltoidei et al., 2010, Ellis et al., 2009, Goh et al., 2019, Ministry of Health Singapore, 2022, Neville et al., 2015, Pintrich, 2003, Tubaishat, 2014, Vilkova and Shcheglova, 2020, Xing et al., 2018)

Funding

This study received no external funding.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Study design: JGB, MF, CD, SR, CJG; Data collection: JGB, MF, CD, SR, CJG; Data analysis: JGB, CJG; Interpretation of results: JGB, CJG; Final manuscript approval: JGB, MF, CD, SR, CJG.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all students who participated in this study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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