Surfing or drowning? Student nurses' Internet skills.

The ability to use the Internet is an essential skill for nursing students, both to support their studies, especially as nursing students spend a lot of their time in placements away from the university campus, and to support their development of skills in using what is becoming an increasingly essential tool for professionals. A study at Bournemouth University, England, found that new student nurses had poor Internet skills and were not frequent users prior to starting the course. No link was found between the students' ages and their Internet use or skills. A clear link was however found between ability and frequency of use, except in relationship to the students' ability to conduct an effective search. Almost half of the respondents said that they find far too much irrelevant information when searching for information on the Internet. Given the importance of Information and Technology skills to nurses, both as lifelong learners and as competent practitioners and to nursing students throughout their pre-registration education, the inclusion of a programme to ensure that they develop these skills during their pre-registration education is essential.