Implementing mobile information technology in clinical nursing education: how, why, when, where and what happened? Some answers from a review of the literature

Background Clinical practice presents a variety of challenges for nursing students which can impact their learning and application of knowledge and skills. Their inexperience coupled with the lack of supervision and ad hoc nature of learning in clinical environments can reduce their hands-on skills and negatively impact patient care. New methods are needed to help nursing students and educators address the theory-practice gap [1]. Information and communication technologies (ICT) such as mobile devices are being proposed as one way to support nursing students in clinical practice as they provide instant access to evidence based information at the point of care [2]. Despite the advantages it offers implementing mobile technology in clinical nursing education has proved challenging. The literature review aims to investigate how, why, when and where hand-held devices have been utilised in clinical nursing education and what factors facilitated or hindered their use.