Evaluation of the Use of Mobile Devices for Clinical Practicum in Nursing Education

This paper reports an evaluation of the use of mobile devices by nursing students in clinical practicum. In this learning environment, nursing students have to apply their nursing skills and follow specific clinical procedures in real-life situations. Following the Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME), this study involved a total of 265 nursing students taking part in a questionnaire survey and 20 nursing students and relevant staff participating in interviews, showing their views, experiences and perceptions of the use of mobile devices for studying nursing materials and conducting clinical assessment in the practicum context. The results indicate their overall satisfaction of the mobile learning practice, in particular for the ubiquitous access of materials for situated learning in wards, and the effectiveness of supporting teachers to keep track of students' learning progress. Areas of improvements were also identified, which emphasise the network connectivity of devices, user training and technical support for the use and maintenance of the devices.