JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the growing relevance of telehealth in healthcare. Assessing healthcare and nursing students` telehealth competencies is crucial for its successful integration into education and practice.

Objective:

The primary objective was to assess students' telehealth knowledge, skills, attitude, and experience. Secondary, students' preferences for telehealth content and teaching methods within their curricula were examined.

Methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional online study in May 2022. A project-specific questionnaire, developed and refined through iterative feedback and face-validity testing, addressed topics such as demographics, personal perceptions, and professional experience with telehealth, and solicited input on potential telehealth course content. Statistical analyses were conducted on surveys with at least a 50% completion rate, including descriptive statistics of categorical variables, graphical representation of results, and Kruskal-Wallis tests for central tendencies in subgroup analyses.

Results:

A total of 261 students from seven bachelor’s and four master’s healthcare and nursing programs participated in the study. Most students expressed interest in telehealth (69% very or rather interested) and recognized its importance in their education (82% very or rather important). However, the majority reported limited knowledge of telehealth applications concerning their own profession (only 3% stated profound knowledge) and limited active telehealth experience with various telehealth applications (between 7% and 24%). Statistically significant differences were found between study programs regarding telehealth interest (p=0.005), knowledge (p<0.001), perceived importance in education (p<0.001), and perceived relevance after the pandemic (p=0.004). Practical training with devices, software, apps and telehealth case examples with various patient groups were perceived most important for integration in future curricula. Most students preferred both interdisciplinary and program-specific courses.

Conclusions:

This study emphasizes the need to integrate telehealth into healthcare education curricula, as students state positive telehealth attitudes, but currently have limited knowledge and skills. The views of students should be taken into account in the design of educational content to optimally prepare future health professionals for the increasing role of telehealth in practice.