Sharing Your Knowledge in an Online Environment.

Abstract

Entering the key word nursing in any search engine yields pages of Web sites targeting all aspects of nursing. Web sites continue to establish a place in the education of nurses. Valuable tools for nursing students, across a range of educational levels, now exist to enhance knowledge acquired in curricula. Although once limited to textbooks, students now can easily find online resources to assist in tasks such as interpretation of lab values, examinationpreparation, andothers. Nurseswith advanced preparation are finding novelways to disseminate their knowledge to students, increasing chances of success in the classroom and skill at the bedside. Prelicensure nurses frequently facemultiple computerized exams in educational curricula, culminating in the National Council Licensure ExaminationYRegisteredNurse, which is required for licensure in the United States. In addition to clinical knowledge and test-taking skills, nursing students benefit from a greater degree of skill and comfort in taking online tests, which can be facilitated by addition of technology to the classroom. A systematic review of literature on the comparison of online and traditional face-to-face learning suggests that online learning is of equal benefit in the acquisition of clinical skill knowledge by students in prelicensure programs, particularly if used in a supplementary fashion to traditional educational methods. Responding to the need for increased use of technology in nursing programs has created opportunities for nurses who are willing to create technological resources for students. The continuous need for improved technological skills related to nursing practice has been addressed in the literature. Integration of evidence-based practice, (EBP) a key skill for advanced practice nurses, necessitates regular exercise in searching and critically reviewing current research, which can be enhanced by use of technological tools. Both prelicensure and graduate nursing students who participated in the implementation of aWeb-based technological tool to boost skills needed for successful integration of EBP participants (n = 226) demonstrated correct application of PICOT to a clinical question (72.1%; n = 163; 49.2%, n = 63).