Keywords

clinical practice, handheld technology, nursing students, point of care, tablets

 

Authors

  1. Maneval, Rhonda DEd, RN
  2. Mechtel, Marci DNP, MSN, RN, ACCNS-P

Abstract

Handheld technology allows students to access point-of-care resources throughout the clinical experience. To assess the viability of replacing student smartphones with tablets, an evaluation project was undertaken. Overall, students were equally dissatisfied with the 2 types of tablets that were evaluated. Students saw the potential usefulness of tablets to manage clinical assignments, interact with the learning management system, and communicate with faculty, but not for retrieving information currently accessible on their phones.