It Varies! Blended Educational Support for Rural Registered Nurses' Just-In-Time Learning Activities

Abstract

Just-in-time learning using blended educational resources has become a challenging norm for registered nurses (RNs) working in the rural hospital workplace. Consistent change and lack of adequate in-house educational supports in the rural hospital context have contributed to the creation of a complex and increasingly chaotic workplace of unanticipated elements and unknowns. In this context, and typically with only their ingenuity to support them, RNs often quickly and in-the-moment self-determine their learning needs and the blended educational resources needed to meet these needs. This type of learning, conceptualized as just-in-time learning, is frequently used by rural RNs to maintain the generalist practice expertise needed to provide capable, safe patient care. However, there is a paucity of research about this phenomenon. Thus, using a constructivist interpretive description research design, I explored the extent to which RNs in the rural hospital workplace perceive that blended educational resources support their just-in-time learning activities. Understanding this phenomenon through this exploration has assisted me in generating recommendations to inform rural hospital educational, organizational, and policy initiatives aimed at the just-in-time learning activities of rural RNs, and in turn, can support these RNs in confidently providing capable, safe patient care.