Teaching Nurses to Build a Hospital Without Walls: Developing a Training Curriculum for Telehomecare

Abstract

"To what extent can people be taught to engage in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)?" is a question which has rarely been discussed at meetings of CSCW researchers. The present study suggests that qualitative research can contribute to the development of a curriculum for preparing nurses to work with patients who live at a distance from themselves. Building on the ethnographic research stream within CSCW, a qualitative study was conducted of three different telehomecare (THC) programs in order to identify work issues and difficulties which could be addressed in a training course for telehomecare nurses.