This page provides links to the findings of a research study undertaken by Richard Lakeman in June-July 1996.
These findings were
presented at:
Lakeman, R. (1996). The
internet: Facilitating and international nursing culture. (Conference
Proceedings). (pp. 261-282). Auckland: ANZCMHN
and published in:
Lakeman, R. (1996). Psychiatric nursing. The Internet: facilitating an
international nursing culture for psychiatric nurses. Computers in Nursing,
16(2), 87-9.
2.0 How the internet has been useful to psychiatric
nurses, personally and in the work that they do.
The question relating to the usefulness of the internet provided
further information about what psychiatric nurses use the internet
for, as well as highlighting the benefits of using the internet
for relating to others through this medium. A number of themes
and subthemes were identified.
2.1 Save costs with communication was such a dominant theme that it was allocated a category on its own. Many respondents mentioned the financial savings of using the internet to communicate with friends, family and colleagues around the world compared with using other modes of communication.
"On a personal level several members of my family also are on the
Internet and I can talk with them frequently without the expense
of long distance calls as they are all at least 1000 miles away
from me or more."
While voice to voice chatting, and real time text chatting were
mentioned in response to the various questions, email was clearly
the dominant mode of communication on the internet for most respondents.
Different expectations were associated with the use of e-mail
and many appeared to view it as a more efficient, faster and reliable
means of communication than conventional means."… corresponding
to my friends is so efficient by using e-mail. Usually my friends
are very busy; they do not write to me very often with the traditional
way. However they do write me back by using e-mail." The
nature of email was such that people were more likely to answer
an email message than a letter or fax.
Respondents mentioned that consideration of time of day and differences
in time zones between continents was not important with e-mail
communication as people could compose and reply to e-mail at their
leisure. "I can stay in touch with family and friends who
are in different time zones or travel frequently."
For those who chose to work at home, in isolated communities or at antisocial hours the internet remains accessible and there is no disadvantage in terms of accessing information or communication. "Access time doesn't matter and personally I am a night owl and can find time to use the net when other sources are not available."
For the reasons already mentioned e-mail has come to be the dominant
means of communication with family, friends and distant colleagues
for some respondents. One respondent summed it up thus, "Email
has become the mode/means of communication. Cheaper than the phone
or the post office and less time consuming."
2.2 Locating references and information. One respondent
described the internet as "a more interesting encyclopaedia".
Unlike the traditional encyclopaedia the information available
on the internet is dynamic, that is changing and without the sense
of permanence that paper provides. Most information is not refereed
and some may be of dubious quality. While there is an internet
equivalent of the refereed journal (e.g. the American Journal
of Nursing among other established journals are available on the
WWW), most information is placed on the internet by beneficent
individuals and organisations. Finding out where information
could be obtained, rather than obtaining the information itself
was viewed as a major benefit of the internet. The ability to
access library resources was one benefit that many respondents
described. "I am entering the final year of a BSN (distance
learning program) and use the Internet to access library and
research sources."
The actual information required may not be available via the internet.
However the internet may be a useful tool to identify where information
is located:
"I can become aware of other resources for information. For example
I can research a topic I am interested in and find article/book
titles names of researchers or even others researching the same
topics; I may have to go elsewhere to contact these resources
but I have a large initial databank to start with."
Others stated information they had found was useful for research,
clinical projects, preparing resource materials and in the courses
of study in which they were enrolled. Information was not always
sought in a purposeful way for example one respondent replied
"I'm also in the process of writing a book and am finding
information that I 'stumble upon' on the web useful material for
this project". The process of "surfing" the internet
describes the process of following links from one WWW page to
another and stumbling upon information. The WWW is a digressive
medium with lots of interesting but distracting paths which a
user may pursue. Some respondents had clearly not been distracted
in their searches and listed specific resources which they have
found useful in their work such as published papers and drug information.
2.3 Keeping current. Many felt that the internet assisted
them in keeping up to date with trends and developments in their
field of interest. The "…communications with folks does
keep me up on the latest in world wide developments in psychiatric
nursing care".
2.4.0 Relating to others. Almost all respondents mentioned
some aspect of communicating with others as useful to them both
professionally and personally. Indeed this was the dominant theme.
2.4.1 Receiving support was a theme which was implicit
in many of the responses received. This is graphically illustrated
by one respondent who was anticipating undergoing a hysterectomy.
She sent a message to three nursing lists inviting those with
personal or professional experience of the procedure to respond:
"I got about one hundred and seventy replies. They varied from
nurses who had faced a similar decision or had mothers/ sisters
etc. who had to those who were oncology nurses gynae nurses and
nurse educators who teach around the topic of my question. All
were telling me in differing ways the same message: when one's
uterus is being removed also remove the ovaries because ovarian
cancer is so lethal and silent that by the time it is palpable
it is too late for treatment… I had my hysterectomy (desperately
needed) and bil. oopherectomy 10 days ago and have great peace
of mind about it."
Others talked of sharing "thoughts, feelings and frustrations". One nurse stated that knowing "that there are so many other people out there with similar interests to mine confirms that the 30 years I have invested in the profession has value"
2.4.2 Sharing concerns. The internet was seen as useful
in that it provided a means for "Identifying, communicating
and working on shared concerns".
2.4.3 Giving and receiving advice. Respondents often stated
that they received advice in response to questions that they posed
relating to personal, professional and practice issues. The ease
and speed with which others respond to questions was cited as
a useful feature of the internet. The information and advice received
was often shared with those who don't have direct internet access.
Frequently messages are posted to the "psych-nursing"
newsgroup in response to questions asked in the workplace. "I've
learned tons of news about home health, research, meds, organisations
and shared it all with others in my work and personal life."
2.4.4 Family and friends. As already mentioned the speed
and cost savings of internet communication was used to advantage
to keep in touch with family and friends around the world. Many
also pointed out that they had made genuine friendships and useful
ongoing professional contacts on the internet. " …helped
establish world wide network of contacts in psych nursing especially
(& in hobbies such as photography also)".
One respondent described an improved relationship with his adult
daughters as a result of collaborating with research and school
projects using the internet.
2.4.5 A sense of connectedness / universality. A sense
of connectedness or universality was apparent in many responses.
This was clearly evident in those responses which acknowledged
the usefulness of receiving support. "I just graduated nursing
school and used the camaraderie of several list serve groups to
help through some tough times."
It seemed that many respondents felt a sense of connection with
others through using the internet. One respondent said he spent
at least three hours each day engaged in internet activities.
Some spoke of finding people who shared similar interests or beliefs,
or that they perceived a greater sense of "closeness"
with others and the profession as a whole.
2.4.6 Creating and sharing. Only one respondent spoke of
developing resources for publication on the WWW although a number
of respondents clearly had developed such resources. This was
evident by the "tag lines" or "signatures"
on their email responses which pointed to personal home pages.
"I'm currently learning to do web pages to add to my institution's
outreach for new students…". It was far more common
for people to identify the advice they received or the information
that they found to be useful rather than their sharing of advice,
or information. There must however be some rewards for individuals
to do so. At the very least rewards might include a sense of
accomplishment.
2.4.7 Being Challenged. Participating in international discussions about nursing issues was mentioned by several respondents as a tool to challenge ideas and facilitate reflection on practice. "The professional lists provide a challenge to my assumptions and help me grow professionally."; "Contributing to the discussion group forces me to think through my ideas about a subject about which I may have previously had very vague notions".