The impact of mobile technologies on new graduate nurses’ perceived self-efficacy and clinical decision making: A report from a longitudinal study in Western Canada

Abstract

Healthcare environments require practitioners to competently and independently collect pertinent data, select appropriate key resources, prioritize information, solve problems, and make sound clinical decisions. The steady increase of health-related information implies a need for useful, practical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools that easily provide nurses’ access to accurate evidence-based information. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of using mobile technologies at the point of care on new graduates’ perceived clinical decision making ability and associated level of self-efficacy over time. A longitudinal quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used. A trend in the findings of this small study suggests that over time, using mobile technologies at the point of care did not enhance the participants’ perceived clinical decision making ability or self-efficacy in clinical decision making. Notwithstanding, the use of mobile technologies in the practice setting is wide spread. It, however, may be that the transition from student to graduate nurse is a significant enough event that seriously limits the useful influence of mobile devices and their associated applications on clinical decision making ability and self-efficacy.