Why ramping up nursing students’ digital skills is a game changer
The rapid adoption of technology, including AI, in healthcare is accelerating, making digital transformation vital to the government’s 10 Year Health Plan. To prepare, nursing students should develop digital capabilities early in their training. The University of Derby’s innovative module links digital literacy with public health improvement.
To prepare for the rapid adoption of technology, including AI, nursing students should develop digital capabilities in training to deliver effective future care
Whether you feel at home with new digital tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and are comfortable using evermore complex computer systems or not, the relentless adoption of technology in healthcare settings will only continue to pick up pace as we head into 2026 and beyond.
‘Using tech can help to deliver healthcare more effectively and efficiently – as long as nurses are proficient in its use’
Indeed, digital transformation is a crucial aspect of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, one of the three big shifts cited in the plan – hospital to community, analogue to digital, sickness to prevention – so the need to ramp up primary care and community nurses’ digital capabilities will only become more pressing in the future.
The best way to learn is, no surprise, to have these skills introduced and developed early on as part of nursing students’ training and our evidence and practice article, Developing nursing students’ digital capabilities to enhance public health, describes an innovative module assignment that students undertake at the University of Derby, linking digital literacy and public health improvement in the context of nurse education.
Integrating digital ways of working in primary care and community nursing
Harnessing the power of technology and embracing digital ways of working are only a means to an end. The goal is always to improve care, and, ultimately, it is the core values of nursing that matter the most; it is just that using tech can help to deliver that care more effectively and efficiently – as long as nurses are proficient in its use.
Inevitably, there are challenges and barriers to change – such as initial resistance to or fear of new ways of working, not to mention successful implementation of new systems in the first place.
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However, by making digital skills ubiquitous in nursing students’ studies, and fully integrated and normalised into the delivery of care, the enhancement to primary care and community nursing could be a positive game changer for all concerned.
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