Background: Nursing students have been spending much more time on digital platforms for educational purposes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, prolonged screen time can cause digital burnout. This paper investigated digital burnout levels in nursing students.
Design: This was a descriptive study.
Settings: The study population consisted of 443 nursing students of the faculty of health sciences of a university in the 2020-2021 academic year. The sample consisted of 361 nursing students who agreed to participate in the study and filled out the data collection forms. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. The participation rate was 81.5%.
Participants: First-, second-, third-, and fourth-year nursing students.
Methods: Data were collected using a descriptive characteristics questionnaire and the Digital Burnout Scale (DBS). The data were analyzed using number, percentage, and mean (minimum, maximum) and the student t-test, One way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: Participants had a total DBS score of 72.28 ± 18.92. They had a mean DBS "digital aging," "digital deprivation," and "emotional exhaustion" subscale score of 37.57 ± 10.02, 15.66 ± 5.89, and 19.54 ± 5.60, respectively. Participants who spent more than five hours a day online had higher DBS scores than those who spent less than five hours a day online (p < 0.05). Participants who were always stressed out had higher DBS scores than those who were sometimes or never stressed out (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Participants had above-average digital burnout levels, which were affected by the average time spent online per day, stress level, physical and psychological health, and economic status. The curriculum should teach nursing students how and how much to use digital media.
Keywords: Digital aging; Digital burnout; Digital deprivation; Emotional exhaustion; Nursing students.
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