Nurses’ Attitudes toward, and Needs for Online Learning: Differences between Rural and Urban Hospitals in Shanghai, East China
Weijie Xing,
Linjun Ao,
Huiting Xiao,
Li Cheng,
Yan Liang and
Junqiao Wang
Additional contact information
Weijie Xing: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Linjun Ao: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Huiting Xiao: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Li Cheng: The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Shatin, Hongkong 999077, China
Yan Liang: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Junqiao Wang: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-11
Abstract:
Health professionals need continuing education to maintain their qualifications and competency. Online learning increases the accessibility and flexibility of continuing education. Assessment of nurses’ attitudes toward, and needs for, online learning can provide suggestions regarding learning program design and delivery. This study aimed to evaluate Chinese nurses’ attitudes toward, and needs for, online learning, and to explore the differences in attitudes and needs between nurses working in rural and urban hospitals. This work is a secondary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in Shanghai in 2015 ( n = 550). Multiple regression techniques were used to determine the factors associated with nurses’ attitudes toward, and needs for, online learning. Results showed that nurses in rural hospitals had more positive attitudes toward online learning (102.7 ± 14.2) than those in urban hospitals (98.3 ± 12.9) ( p < 0.001). For rural hospitals, nurses who could use computers and access the internet in their workplace reported more positive attitudes than those who could not. For urban hospitals, nurse educators showed significantly more positive attitudes than others. Communication skills (86.5%) and patient education (86.3%) were the most commonly-reported learning needs for nurses regardless of their working settings. Chinese nurses were willing to adopt online learning as a continuing education method. Nurses working in rural hospitals displayed more positive attitudes toward, and needs for, online learning than those working in urban hospitals. Nursing educators and managers should develop online learning programs and provide appropriate support to fulfill nurses’ learning needs, especially for those working in rural healthcare settings.
Keywords: nurse; online learning; continuing education; attitudes; needs; rural (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1495/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1495/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1495-:d:158083
Access Statistics for this article
IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu
More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().