340 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
a limitless number of scenarios. These scenarios can be specific to a particular educa-
tional activity, an educational process, an interaction, a relationship, or a self- evaluation.
A variety of research designs can also be included such as a pretest/ posttest design or a
posttest- only design. Simulation can also be used for a research examining a workflow
or work processes to determine which is most effective (Kneebone, 2006).
■ TECHNOLOGIES THAT SUPPORT COMMUNICATION
AND INFORMATION ACCESS IN MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS
Over the past decade, mobile devices (e.g., tablets and smartphones) have had an in-
creasing presence in the health care arena. For the past decade, there has been growing
recognition that had a significant impact. In 2005, Lu et al. observed that these devices
had significantly improved “information access, enhanced workflow, and promoted ev-
idence- based practice to make informed and effective decisions at the point of care” (Lu,
Xiao, Sears, & Jacko, 2005, p. 409), and the momentum has continued. Mobile devices
provide “real- time” access to health care information and have transformed the way
information is managed in the health care arena (Siau & Shen, 2006; Ventola, 2014). It is
expected these devices will be even more pervasive in health care as product and soft-
ware improvements are released and HISs offer greater interoperability. The true value
of these devices will not be fully realized until institutions provide seamless integra-
tion with hospital information systems permitting access to essential information at any
place and any time via wireless networks.
One particular benefit of a widely dispersed, integrated system will likely be
reduced medical errors resulting from improved access to vital information (Sarasohn-
Kahn, 2010 ; Varshney, 2007; Ventola, 2014). Another major benefit will be the ability
to collect and more effectively manage surveillance data in real time to more quickly
identify emerging trends/ or threats such as communicable diseases or biohazards. The
doctoral APN must not only be proficient in the use of these technologies, but also be pre-
pared to champion mobile initiatives as a means of “improving quality of care, enhancing
patient services, increasing productivity, lowering costs, improving cash flow, as well as
facilitating other critical delivery processes”(Lin & Vassar, 2004, p. 343). Critical to these
efforts will be the ability to achieve full interoperability of health information. The use of
integrated clinical data from all available data sources will offer improved decision sup-
port and patient care across the continuum. In addition, secondary analysis of data can
support clinical research, allowing identification of trends within patient populations for
research to inform evidence- based care (Cornelius, Harman, & Mullen, 2016; Soneshwar ,
2013). Interoperability will expand the ability of the APN to meet Essential IV by provid-
ing greater capacity to translate and integrate scholarship into practice.
■ VIRTUAL WORLDS FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
High Fidelity, Second Life, Active Worlds, Wonderland, and other virtual worlds offer
extraordinary opportunities for education, simulation, and research. In education, a vir-
tual world can provide an enriched learning experience, strengthen the sense of social
presence, and use multilevel interaction and enriched multimedia resources employ-
ing a constructivist approach in the learning process (Wang & Hsu, 2009; Wheelock &
Merrick, 2015). Virtual worlds are important to higher education because these environ-
ments: (a) offer an immersive environment where users interact and construct knowl-
edge; (b) shift from a traditional dissemination tool to one where users create and design