Measuring the Digital Skills in nursing degree students (Preprint)

BACKGROUND In the healthcare field the digital revolution has changed the way in which healthcare is provided through the prevention, diagnosis and monitoring of people's health. In Catalonia, work has been conducted to evaluate the digital competence (DC) of healthcare professionals using a validated test based on the ACTIC (accreditation of competence in information and communication technologies) model. It is therefore important OBJECTIVE To determine the DC level of nursing students as future healthcare professionals. METHODS The aim of this study is to analyze the current DC level of students taking the Degree in Nursing at the Terres de l’Ebre Campus, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Catalonia, Spain. We have used a questionnaire to evaluate the DC level of these students. RESULTS Our sample comprised 147 students from various modules of the Degree in Nursing. Our results show differences in levels of self-perception and DC but also differences in the competence of students across the various academic years. CONCLUSIONS Evaluating the level of competence of nursing degree students is fundamental for practising and enhancing the most important digital competencies required in the field of professional nursing