Abstract:
Background: Smartphones, tablets and the adjunct applications (apps) that operate on them are becoming a part of everyday life for the New Zealand population. Many are now dependent on their personal smartphone to interact with the world on social, business and professional terms. Student nurses have also embraced this technology, but little is known internationally or in New Zealand about the way student nurses may apply personal devices to their education process. The perceptions of New Zealand nurse managers, toward these personal referencing technologies, could not be located. Method: Using a qualitative descriptive methodology, semi structured interviews were conducted with New Zealand student nurses (n=13), and nurse managers (n=5) about their perceptions of use of personal smartphones, tablets and applications as an educational tool in clinical settings. A thematic analysis was conducted on the resulting text. Results: Three themes of professionalism, safety and technology as a resource arose in the findings from the study. There were beneficial perceptions and disadvantages identified in each category. The research also uncovered unexpected perceptions by nurse managers, of a lack of trust in the judgement of student nurses in regard to personal smartphone use at work. Conclusion: This research supports historical research findings about the perceived usefulness of hand held referencing to augment clinical decisions. Student nurses reported improved confidence and safety in practice when using a personal smartphone or tablet. However, due to the perceptions held by nurse mangers surrounding professionalism, as well as financial considerations, the application of personal smartphones to clinical practice may remain problematic.