Nurses on the net.

Nurses need to be able to use the Internet effectively to support their own professional practice, and to help patients meet their information needs. A study was undertaken with new student nurses to investigate their access and use of the Internet, and their perceptions of their skills. The study found that whilst student nurses have access to computers and the Internet use is mainly limited to the World Wide Web and email. Skill levels tend to be poor when asked about anything other than the most basic tasks such as entering addresses in a web browser. Half of the students in this study could not efficiently locate information on the Internet, and only a third could check an email for viruses. Students also showed a lack of awareness of their own skill levels especially when compared to external standards such as the European Computer Driving Licence. Nurse education needs to make students aware of the skills and knowledge that they will need once qualified, and to give them sufficient opportunity to develop these.