Associations of digital competency and digital norms with digital professionalism among nursing students
TL;DR
The findings suggest that nursing education should shift from skill-based digital training to digital expertise development integrating ethical judgment, accountability, professional boundary settings, and responsible online engagement.
Abstract
Purpose: As healthcare is rapidly digitizing, strengthening digital professionalism among future nurses has become essential. However, empirical evidence on the factors associated with digital professionalism among nursing students is limited. This study aimed to assess the level of digital professionalism among fourth-year nursing students in South Korea and identify the factors of digital competency and digital norms associated with digital professionalism.Methods: A correlational design using self-report questionnaires was employed. Participants were fourth-year nursing students from three universities located in two metropolitan cities and one province. Based on G*Power, 184 questionnaires were distributed, and 173 valid questionnaires were analyzed. Data were collected from October 2 to November 29, 2024, after Institutional Review Board approval. IBM SPSS version 29.0 was used for descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Mann–Whitney U tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression.Results: Participants comprised 29 males (16.8%) and 144 females (83.2%). Significant factors associated with digital professionalism were digital norms (β=.37, p<.001), digital education experience (β=.22, p=.001), and sex (β=.14, p=.025). The regression model explained 33.2% of the variance in digital professionalism. Higher digital norms, digital education experience, and being female were associated with higher levels of digital professionalism.Conclusion: Digital norms emerged as a factor influencing students’ digital professionalism, indicating that ethical awareness and normative understanding are foundational for professional behavior in digital healthcare environments. These findings suggest that nursing education should shift from skill-based digital training to digital expertise development integrating ethical judgment, accountability, professional boundary settings, and responsible online engagement.