Interdisciplinary partnership as means of developing digitally literate healthcare graduates.

Abstract

Background: The implementation of digital health technologies, such as electronic medical records and telehealth, into healthcare environments requires that the healthcare workforce possess high level of digital literacy. However, some healthcare students start their studies with pre-existing low levels of digital literacy which may impact how students engage with these technologies during clinical placements and their assessments. 

Aims: To develop a sustainable digital literacy module to address first year nursing students’ digital literacy needs. 

Methods: Representatives from the nursing, library and academic skills units developed a module brief and defined digital literacy themes addressing immediate student needs. Required resources were curated, organised and hosted on the library’s private webpage and made accessible via a ‘private link’ embedded in the student’s learning management system. The engagement of the first-year nursing students was analysed by examining when and which themes were most accessed.

Results: The module was most frequently accessed at the start of the semester, with each theme accessed most frequently at the time of need. For example, students engaged with the Theme One (Learning Management System) the most and at the start of each semester presumably because this is the newest information system encountered.

Conclusions: Addressing students’ digital literacy deficits facilitates student course progression and may improve graduates’ transition to digitally driven workplace environments. The model reported here is inexpensive, transferable to any healthcare settings where a library exists, and it permits student/staff to engage in their own time and in privacy.