Page 567 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

534 n VIRTUAL NURSE CARING

advocacy via the Internet in the form of Chee, 2002; Piamjariyakul, Scheifelbein,
accurate science-based health care informa- Smith, 2006; Smith, 2008; Smith et al., 2005).
V tion and guidance that maintains patients’ Web site content that is comprehensive
and family members’ sense of connection and has evidence-based interventions can
with health professionals from a distance provide specific visuals and prompts for
(Smith, 2010a, 2010b). The literature on car- managing complex health care treatments
ing is diverse, with several distinct theoreti- (Fitzgerald, yadrich, Werkowitch, & Smith,
cal perspectives ranging from interpersonal in press). Scientifically based Internet linked
interaction, communicating respect, and algorithms and illustrations can guide
nurses providing families information patients and family caregivers through step-
needed to accurately anticipate their health by-step to solutions for the most common
care challenges (Glasgow et al., 2006; Im & home treatment and health care problems
Chee, 2002; Piamjariyakul, Scheifelbein, (Smith, Puno, & Werkowitch, 2005).
Smith, 2006; Smith, 2008; Smith et al., 2005). Across previous studies, data themes
Watson (2003) emphasizes that nurse caring have found that families recognize caring
is not defined by doing but rather by creating in nurses who communicate detailed and
a connection and conveying an “authentic timely information (d’Alessandro & dosa,
presence” whereby families feel supported 2001; White & dorman, 2000). other con-
to share their experiences and health care sistent themes found that patients describe
stories. Watson (2000) states that caring can a caring nurse as one who “honestly”
be sustained through communications from describes the details about health care man-
a distance using the telephone, Internet or agement difficulties, including the physical
telehealth (picture phones), and that Internet challenges (lack of energy and sleep dis-
connection can encompass the essential turbances), assists them with managing the
“carative” factors of transpersonal teaching- depression associated with chronic illness
learning and sense of presence (Finfgeld- (Smith, Leneerts, & Gajewski, 2002), and
Connett, 2006). guides daily treatment complexities (Czaja
The concept of VNC has been tested & Schultz, 2006; Morris, Bottoroff, Neaderf,
on Web sites to ascertain patient and fam- & Solberg, 1991). Families felt cared for
ily members’ sense of being cared for via when nurses had prepared them for the
Internet-based nursing care (Smith, 2011). typical but also the uncommon occurrences,
The VNC questionnaire has reliable sub- including “all the information” about the
scales that measure patients’ and family “intensity, difficulty,” and the “daily work
caregivers’ perceptions of nurse caring; needed” from caregivers to support the
detected after then use of Web sites contain- patients’ recovery and long-term function-
ing nursing guidance for managing complex ing (Smith, 2009).
health care (Smith, 2010). Connections in vir- The societal and economic perspectives
tual environments (Internet sites, second life on nursing practice via the Internet are cur-
platforms) can increase perceptions of nurse rently being studied. An HHS national study
presence Thus, Web sites can provide VNC found that chronically ill persons of all ages,
in the form of detailed health and treatment ethnic and economic groups, and surpris-
guides, health and illness management infor- ingly, those with depression consistently
mation, to prompts for participation in health used and highly rated the Internet for health
care activities and sharing of care experiences information (Wagner & Hibbard, 2001). There
(Smith, 2008). Web sites can contain nursing was a drastic increase in blue collar (52%),
interventions that help maintain individu- elderly (47%), and caregiver (70%) Internet
al’s quality of life and connection to health use from 2004 to 2006 (Fox, 2009; PEW
professionals (Glasgow et al., 2006; Im & Internet and American Project, 2006). daily,