A study of network education application on nursing staff continuing education effectiveness and staff's satisfaction

The rapid development of computer technology pushes Internet's popularity and makes daily services more timely and convenient. Meanwhile, it also becomes a trend for nursing practice to implement network education model to break the distance barriers and for nurses to obtain more knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of nursing staff's information competency, satisfaction and outcomes of network education. After completing 4 weeks of network education, a total of 218 nurses answered the on-line questionnaires. The results revealed that nurses who joined the computer training course for less than 3 hours per week, without networking connection devices and with college degree, had the lower nursing informatics competency; while nurses who were older, at N4 position, with on-line course experience and participated for more than 4 hours each week, had higher nursing informatics competency. Those who participated in the network education course less than 4 hours per week were less satisfied. There were significant differences between nursing positions before and after having the network education. Nurses who had higher nursing information competency also had higher satisfaction toward the network education. Network education not only enhances learners' computer competency but also improves their learning satisfaction. By promoting the network education and improving nurses' hardware/software skills and knowledge, nurses can use networks to access learning resources. Healthcare institutions should also enhance computer infrastructure, and to establish the standards for certificate courses to increase the learning motivation and learning outcome.