Baccalaureate nursing students’ anxiety related computer literacy: a sample from Jordan

The learning environment extends beyond the classroom, in a way, necessitating integration of computer literacy with education, establishing e-learning culture within future nursing education and facilitating life-long learning, which goes hand in hand with reshaping the future of the nursing practice. Despite the rapid integration between computers and different health care issues, studies indicated that nursing students have extremely low levels of computer literacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the anxiety-related computer literacy rates of a few nursing students in Jordan. A convenient sample of 441 undergraduate nursing students was selected. A descriptive study utilised a self-administered questionnaire of the Arabic version of the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale and Computer Literacy Scale Data between 20 May and 30 July 2009. Study results indicated that there was a significantly negative relationship between computer anxieties and computer literacy rates. This implies the need for frequent use of computers in various educational and training activities. Frequent use of the computer would reduce computer anxiety and thus enhance computer literacy rates.