::The Problem

Fact versus Fiction

Though all the people and places in this newspaper article are fictional, the problems are not. Online RN to BSN programs have given more nurses access to continuing education, but not all programs have provided the necessary support for studentsóparticularly students who have been out of school for a long time.

• In a study about ìschool phobiaî among returning nursing students, researchers found learning new computer skills was a serious ìstressor.î
• The same study described RN to BSN students this way:

ìRN to BSN students may be older, married, or single women with school-age children; individuals who have completed college degrees in other fields; possess a wide variety of life and work experiences; or have been away from the academic learning environment for extended periods of time.î

• The study also listed the following student complaints about RN to BSN programs: ìthe perceived insensitivity of faculty to adult learner needs,î and ìthe dehumanizing experience of returning to a student role.î The study emphasized the importance of respecting studentsí experience and not patronizing them.
• Further, a 2000 study at Kennesaw University provided this insight into the type of students who take online classes:

ìWhen evaluating an educational institution's program, today's students do so with a consumer-oriented perspective. The prospective online student asks: What do I get? How much will it cost? How convenient is it to access? When will it be delivered? And, what quality am I guaranteed? The consumer/purchasers of nursing education, the students, are primarily interested in the end result of the educational process -- that their education will translate directly into professional advancement and higher salaries.î

• In 2002, the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice studied distance learning programs with online components and reported that students struggled with bandwidth requirements, competition for home computers, and unfamiliarity with user interfaces.
• The NACNEP also found that online courses had a higher drop-out rate than traditional courses.
• According to a 1998 article, the whole medical field has been slow to embrace new technology:

ìThe basic problem is that nurses arenít technologically-savvy Ö Health careófor which information is a life-and-death issueóspends less than 2 percent of its annual budget on system purchase and implementation. By contrast, banking spends more than 12 percent of its annual budget on technology.î

• Finally, a study of nursing student information-seeking habits found that they were reluctant to go to the library and preferred to access information from their home or office, but they were not always familiar with online databasesóin particular, they were unfamiliar with tools for narrowing a search.
• The study also found that many nurses worked at hospitals and other facilities that did not have medical libraries, and even those who worked at places with medical libraries rarely used them because they thought they were for physicians only.

[The Story] | The Problem | The Model | [Biography] | The Rationale | The Solution | [Bibliography]