Using Mobile Apps for Patient Education: Best Practice Evidence for Graduate Registered Nurses

Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

NURSING1
Registered nurses (RNs) have a vital role in the application of modern technologies
for advancement of nursing. These technology supports nurse to improve documentation,
assessment and implementation of nursing care process. Newly placed graduate RNS face
several professional challenges during transition to the role of a registered nurse in clinical
practice (Mann, Medves & Vandenkerkhof, 2015). This essay looks at the situation where a
graduate registered nurse has been asked by a patient to recommend an ‘app’ for them to
learn about their medical condition. The essay discussed about the best practice evidence
through technology to better inform patients about appropriate education materials. The
review of the literature will be done to identify best approach to inform patient about
educational materials and provide synthesis of literature to inform patient about technology or
apps to learn more about diseases.
In order to understand the best way to teach patient about appropriate education
materials for medical condition, it is necessary to consider what types of apps exist in the
nursing context to educate patient. Apps are software programs that perform complex
functions and have played a role in the development of numerous mobile device apps both for
professional and personal use (Ozdalga, Ozdalga & Ahuja, 2012). As mobile device has now
become common in health care settings, numerous software applications (apps) assist health
care professionals in important tasks like information management, health record
maintenance, patient management and medical education (Ventola, 2014). Hence, the main
purpose of literature review is to identify best practice evidence to inform patients about
educational materials. One major motivation behind the use of mobile devices at the point of
care is need for better communication and information resources. It is an important source for
increasing communication capabilities, improving hospital information system, upgrading
informational resources related to patient education and disease diagnosis aids.

NURSING2
The initial strategy needed by RN is to first identify and evaluate available apps and
then carefully assess them to conform whether they are user friendly and appropriate for the
diagnosed disease or not. The article by Boudreaux et al. (2014) mentions seven strategies to
evaluate and select health related apps. It provides a practical guide for health care providers
to select effective apps targeting health maintenance of patients. The seven steps suggested in
the literature includes the strategy of reviewing the scientific literature, search for app
clearing house websites, searching app stores, reviewing app descriptions and ratings,
conducting social media query, piloting the app and eliciting feedback from patients.
Reviewing scientific literature can help to identify whether app for a particular disease or
health behaviour is evidence based or not. However, the challenge associated with this step is
lack of published literature on health apps (Han & Lee, 2018). Because of this limitation, the
second step of searching app clearinghouse website is important as these app clearinghouses
provide help regarding app selection, usability and accuracy of the content. In addition,
review of user ratings can provide information regarding longevity and popularity of the app.
This will determine patient’s comfort level in using the app. Social media query provides the
opportunity to elicit feedback about the app from colleague and other social network. The
strength of this evidence is that that each steps covers limitations of the other steps. However,
despite this, some of the strategies may be impractical for nurses to use because they can be
time consuming (Boudreaux et al., 2014). Hence, it is recommended to use the strategy as a
menu rather than a stepwise approach to select appropriate apps for students.
The second strategy necessary to engage in evidence based information sharing
related to appropriate apps for guidance on disease for patient includes the use of effective
communication strategies. Mobile health (mHealth) is cited for improved self management in
patients with chronic disease and factors like automated text reminders, frequent symptom
monitoring and improved communication are the advantages associated use of mHealth for