Designing an information technology application for use in community-focused nursing education. Nightingale Tracker Field Test Nurse Team.

Changes in healthcare are highlighting the need for nurse educators to include more community-focused clinical experiences in the nursing curriculum. Because community experiences often require students to travel to clinics and patients' homes at multiple distant sites, nurse educators are concerned about how to best supervise their students and maintain reliable communication links. In light of these needs, FITNE (formerly the Fuld Institute for Technology in Nursing Education) undertook a 3-year information technology research and development project known as the Nightingale Tracker. The design for the Nightingale Tracker included activities aimed toward analyzing the unique communication needs faced by practitioners in community settings. It incorporated multiple forms of user input, including requirements-gathering focus groups, nurse educator surveys, and feedback from two user tests. Subject feedback from using Tracker prototypes in the field was invaluable in the design of the final product.