Integrating Telehealth Into the Graduate Nursing Curriculum

• Telehealth is a rapidly expanding way technology is used to provide health care.
• Few nurse practitioner programs prepare students to use this technology in providing direct patient care.
• We look at a model for providing education on telehealth technology skills for nurse practitioner students.

Telehealth can be effective for those who use it; however, very few educational programs prepare their students to use telehealth in clinical practice. The integration of telehealth into the graduate nursing curriculum was done by providing both classroom and clinical experiences. Seventy-two nurse practitioner students from a college in northern Minnesota participated. Results indicate that that the experience increases students' knowledge of telehealth as a means of providing care. Because telehealth is a means for providing services to underserved populations, it is important to incorporate education regarding this technology into the graduate nursing curriculum.