Telehealth across nursing education: Findings from a national study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The onset of COVID-19 perpetuated the necessity for nursing students to be telehealth savvy upon graduation. There is minimal research regarding the integration of telehealth in nursing curricula across multiple levels. PURPOSE: The purpose of this survey study was to determine the current or future use of telehealth content and experiences in prelicensure and graduate nursing program curricula. METHODS: Following vetting, an adapted survey was sent to 386 nursing program or simulation directors in June 2020. FINDINGS: The survey had a 21 % (n = 82) response rate. Fifty-five percent of prelicensure and 40 % of graduate programs had no telehealth curricular content, while 22 % and 45 %, respectively, planned to integrate. The top barrier to integration was a lack of funds. DISCUSSION: Further research is needed to evaluate telehealth in nursing curricula. Due to many factors, the addition of telehealth curricula in nursing schools is inevitable.