Honey and Wright (2018)
Honey and Wright (2018) conduct an analysis of nurses’ perceptions of confidence and competence in telehealth. Telehealth is described as the use of virtual technology to deliver healthcare outside of the facility (Honey & Wright, 2018). The authors note that telehealth has a positive impact on healthcare delivery to remote and rural populations. They are concerned with the confidence of nurses and their competencies in delivering care through telehealth. The study uses a qualitative design, and the sample includes nine nurses working in various clinical settings across New Zealand. Nurses are engaged in a semi-structured interview, where they share their experience of using telehealth. Then, they are asked to describe their current level of practice based on Benner’s levels and talk about self-confidence, necessary skills, and barriers in using telehealth. As the result of the interview and the following thematic analysis, the main theme of moving from a novice to a proficient nurse is identified (Honey & Wright, 2018). Such sub-themes as the first use of telehealth, training, experience in a specialty area, mentorship, and technological advancement are distinguished from the discussion. All nurses have more than 14 years of experience, but their time using telehealth ranges from four months to eight years (Honey & Wright, 2018). Nevertheless, all nurses rate their level of competence as proficient or expert. Similarly, most participants noted that their initiation into telehealth was sudden and lacked training. The nurses recommended strategies for education in using telehealth, highlighting the role of hands-on training and mentorship for increased confidence. A base of knowledge in their specialty area is also noted, along with the understanding of technology and innovations, as positive influences on telehealth experiences. The authors conclude that nurses’ confidence in telehealth rose quickly as they gained experience but that the early introduction to this practice was characterized by insufficient or absent training.
van Houwelingen et al. (2019)
The article by van Houwelingen et al. (2019) is a quantitative, cross-sectional study that examines nurses’ confidence in their telehealth competencies. According to the scholars, the lack of competencies in telehealth is partially responsible for the slow adoption of this practice in hospitals (van Houwelingen et al., 2019). The sample of 1,017 nurses from three hospitals in the Netherlands completes a survey that contains 31 items describing knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary for the use of telehealth (van Houwelingen et al., 2019). The nurses rate their confidence in possessing and using these KSAs on a 5-point Likert scale, and the scholars determine the median value for each KSA and three main groups (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). Moreover, as the survey has a qualitative component of nursing suggestions for continuing telehealth education, the answers are examined and coded thematically. Upon the analysis, it is discovered that nurses expressed the highest levels of confidence in possessing necessary IT skills. In contrast, the lowest confidence levels are shown in the nurses’ knowledge of procedures in case of emergencies (van Houwelingen et al., 2019). Overall, only nine out of 31 KSAs were rated highly, while 19 and 3 KSAs received a moderate and low rating, respectively (van Houwelingen et al., 2019). All of the lowest evaluated KSAs are from the “knowledge” group of statements concerning policies related to telehealth, emergencies, and actions in the case of non-functioning technology. In the qualitative part of the investigation, the main related topic observable is the suggestions on how to improve telehealth learning. Such requests as the continuing education and practical use of devices during training are common responses. The authors conclude that education in telehealth can improve nurses’ confidence in using these services and contribute to their better implementation.
Synthesis of Articles
The two articles’ analysis of nurse confidence in using telehealth reveals some flaws in the current implementation of such services and nurses’ early experiences with electronic devices. As Honey and Wright (2018) find, many nurses share the experience of starting to use telehealth with little or no formal training, learning how to use the new technology in patient meetings. In turn, van Houwelingen et al. (2019) discover that the lowest confidence levels among nurses are in topics related to formal education and their knowledge of policies and proper procedures when using telehealth technology. Both the qualitative and quantitative study come to similar conclusions, that the lack of knowledge about the procedures and the lack of initial preparation affect nurses’ confidence, especially in the early stages of using telehealth. Moreover, Honey and Wright (2018) and van Houwelingen et al. (2019) highlight nurses’ suggestions of increasing formal education in telehealth and starting the introduction of practice or mentoring exercises before implementing telehealth in their hospitals. Thus, one may propose that nurses understand the role of continuous learning for understanding telehealth and largely agree on the strategies that should be implemented both by organizations and institutions in order to prepare specialists in telehealth. The ability to practice using telehealth before it is used with patients can increase nurses’ self-confidence, positively influencing their view of telehealth and their desire to implement this technology in their setting further. Moreover, such education should also be complemented with the establishment of hospital policies and protocols that describe nurses’ interaction with telehealth technologies and actions in cases of technical failure or patient emergency.
Differences between Summary and Synthesis
Summarizing and synthesizing are two main types of text reading often used in research. However, summarizing is a simple retelling of a text that focuses on its main ideas and results in a shorter version of the writing with the same meaning and conclusions. Eaton (2010) states that a summary is the cursory overview of the text that does not engage with the information in any transformative way. In contrast, synthesizing is an advanced technique that pulls the information from more than one source in order to draw new conclusions (Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d.). When synthesizing several texts, the writer may combine the information to show their consistency or contrast the findings to reveal weaknesses or oddities in the results. Thus, the outcome of synthesis is not a retelling but rather a creation of new ideas that are founded on the existing evidence (Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d.). Based on this description of synthesis, it is apparent that synthesis requires a deeper investigation of each source and more considerations on how to make connections between several studies. Soilemezi and Linceviciute (2018) note that the selection and appraisal processes are vital during synthesis as they may determine the quality of conclusions. Overall, the main difference between the two reading types is that summarizing does not result in new insight while synthesizing moves the discussion forward and leads to potential research questions or implications for practice.
References
Eaton, S. E. (2010). Reading strategies: Differences between summarizing and synthesizing. Literacy, Languages and Leadership.
Honey, M., & Wright, J. (2018). Nurses developing confidence and competence in telehealth: Results of a descriptive qualitative study.Contemporary Nurse, 54(4-5), 472-482.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Synthesizing sources.
Soilemezi, D., & Linceviciute, S. (2018). Synthesizing qualitative research: Reflections and lessons learnt by two new reviewers. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1), 1609406918768014.
van Houwelingen, C. T., Ettema, R. G., Kort, H. S., & ten Cate, O. (2019). Hospital nurses’ self-reported confidence in their telehealth competencies. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 50(1), 26-34.