A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Self-assessed digital competence of nurse educators—A cross-sectional study in four countries




AuthorsPajari, Juha; Sormunen, Marjorita; Salminen, Leena; Elonen, Imane; Pasanen, Miko; Camilleri, Michelle; Wennberg-Capellades, Laia; Haycock-Stuart, Elaine; Sollárová, Andrea; Saaranen, Terhi

PublisherSAGE Publications

Publication year2025

Journal: Digital health

Article number20552076251395451

Volume11

eISSN2055-2076

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251395451

Publication's open availability at the time of reportingOpen Access

Publication channel's open availability Open Access publication channel

Web address https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251395451

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508966953

Self-archived copy's licenceCC BY

Self-archived copy's versionPublisher`s PDF


Abstract

Objective: This study examines the self-assessed level of nurse educators' digital competence in four European countries and explores variables associated with it.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted.

Method: Nurse educators (n = 290) from 36 nursing education organizations in Finland, Malta, Slovakia, and Spain participated in the study. Data were collected from May 2021 to February 2022 through an online survey. The Educators and Educator Candidates' Competence in Digital Pedagogy instrument contained 20 items in three categories. Descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis were used in the analysis.

Results: Nurse educators reported an overall moderate level of digital competence; the lowest level was in the safe and responsible use of technology. Slovak educators assessed their competence as higher than those from Finland, Malta, and Spain. Having a master's or doctoral degree and completing pedagogical studies were related to a higher level of digital competence.

Conclusion: Nurse educators have successfully adopted the use of evolving teaching, learning, and assessment methods to ensure appropriate and practice-preparing healthcare education. The findings can be used in nursing education and healthcare practice organizations to focus nurse educators' education on the safe and responsible use of digital pedagogical practices, such as the ethical utilization of electronic documents. Furthermore, in-depth examination of the relationship between educators' education and digital competence is needed.


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Funding information in the publication
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Erasmus + of European Union [2020–1-FI01-KA203–066590].


Last updated on 10/02/2026 01:50:04 PM