Investigations Of Computer Attitudes And Nursing Informatics Competencies For Nursing Undergraduates In Jilin Province

ObjectivesBy theoretical studies and current research on computer attitudes andnursing informatics competencies for nursing undergraduates in Jilin Province,we expect to understand their attitudes towards computers in healthcare andcomputer literacy in various computer applications available, analyzecorresponding impact factors and provide a reference for promoting informationliteracy education for nursing undergraduates.MethodsA census was carried out to investigate nursing undergraduates (1137in total)in the freshman year or junior year of four universities in Jilin Province fromOctober to December in2011, using questionnaires as followed: Survey ofDemographic Information and P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chinese edition(Part1Pretest for Attitudes towards Computers in Healthcare and Part2NursingInformatics Competencies). Datas were preliminarily arranged using Epidata3.02and Excel2003, and then statistically analyzed in SPSS13.0. For demographicinformation of samples, frequency and percentage were descriptively analyzed,while for P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part1and Part2),mean and standard deviation were introduced. Impact factors were selected usingt-test，analysis of varianee，rank-sum test and then analyzed using multi-stepwiseregression analysis.Results1. The total number of participants in the survey was1137and each onefilled in a questionnaire.1113(Part1) and1094(Part2)valid copies wereacquired, with the effective rate achieving97.9%and96.2%, respectively.2. The value for Cronbach’s α of the internal consistency for P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part1) is0.917and corresponding contentvalidity is fine. The construct validity is analyzed using the exploratory factoranalysis and extracted with8principal factors, explaining49.63%of the totalvariance.3. The value for P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part1) is10.66(±7.43), with distributed intervals for [–40,–28],[–27,–15],[–14,–4],[–3,12],[13,26] and [27,40] constituting0%,0%,2.3%,57.0%,38.2%and2.5%,respectively.4. The total number of items with average value under1.00is7(averagevalues for other11ones are all above1.00).5. The difference of values for grade, time of using computers, average timeof surfing the Internet per week, IT course experience prior to college, attendanceof NCRE, principal contents of surfing the Internet, experience of acquiringprofessional knowledge on the Internet, percentage of network information andviewpoint towards information retrieval (9aspects in total) in P.A.T.C.H.Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part1and Part2) were statisticallysignificant.6. Multi-stepwise regression analysis indicates that the regression equationof scoring in P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part1)independent is made up of6independent variables,(i.e., grade, time of usingcomputers, average time of surfing the Internet per week, experience of acquiringprofessional knowledge on the Internet, percentage of network information andviewpoint towards information retrieval), with the equation in P.A.T.C.H.Assessment Scale in Chinese edition (Part2) consisting of grade, time of usingcomputers, average time of surfing the Internet per week, IT course experienceprior to college, principal contents of surfing the Internet, experience of acquiringprofessional knowledge on the Internet, percentage of network information andviewpoint towards information retrieval (8independent variables in total). Conclusions1. The reliability and validity of P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chineseedition (Part1) are fine and can be effectively used to evaluate nursinginformatics competencies.2. Based on the average values for P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale in Chineseedition (Part1),57.0%nursing undergraduates exhibit “feels comfortable usinguser-friendly computer applications, aware of the usefulness of computers in avariety of settings and has a realistic view of current computer capabilities inhealthcare”.3. Impact factors for attitudes towards computers in healthcare are mainlygrade, time of using computers, average time of surfing the Internet per week,experience of acquiring professional knowledge on the Internet, percentage ofnetwork information and viewpoint towards information retrieval (6in total).While for nursing informatics competencies, corresponding impact factors aremainly grade, time of using computers, average time of surfing the Internet perweek, IT course experience prior to college, principal contents of surfing theInternet, experience of acquiring professional knowledge on the Internet,percentage of network information and viewpoint towards information retrieval(8in total).4. It is well-advised to cultivate nursing informatics competencies of nursingundergraduates by strengthening standardized education of nursing information,increasing practical opportunities in clinics, accelerating the construction ofsoftware and hardware for nursing information.