Pre-use acceptability of telemedicine among nursing students : a quantitative cross-sectional study

Hvalič Touzery, Simona (author), Kydd, Angela (author), Berzelak, Jernej (author), Laznik, Jerneja (author), Šetinc, Mojca (author), Dolničar, Vesna (author)

Background: The healthcare sector has undergone digital transformation through telemedicine which serves as a strategic and efficient solution to address key health challenges. Nevertheless, little is known about how nursing students perceive and accept telemedicine, which is essential for its future implementation. This study examined how perceived ease of use, extended constructs of perceived usefulness, self-rated knowledge, and technology anxiety influence Slovenian nursing students’ willingness to use telemedicine in the pre-use acceptability stage. Methods: A cross-sectional, non-experimental, quantitative research design was used. Data were collected in 2023 in Slovenia using a self-administered web questionnaire. All eight Slovenian higher education institutions offering full-time and/or part-time undergraduate nursing programs were included. A total of 234 nursing students participated in the survey, with 178 providing complete responses relevant to the study’s key variables. Bivariate correlations and nested proportional odds models (ordered logit) were performed. Results: Self-rated knowledge (Coef = 0.49, p = 0.03), perceived usefulness in nursing practice (Coef = 1.33, p < 0.01) and technology anxiety (Coef = –0.70, p < 0.01) were significant predictors of willingness to use telemedicine. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness for patient empowerment and interaction were not significant. The extended model significantly improved fit and explanatory power compared to the simpler model containing only self-rated knowledge and background variables (ΔLR = 55.62, p < 0.01). Conclusions: This study integrates constructs from different theoretical models of technology acceptance to explain nursing students’ pre-use acceptability of telemedicine. Knowledge, perceived usefulness in nursing practice, and technology anxiety significantly predict willingness to use telemedicine. These findings highlight the importance of addressing both competence and emotional readiness when preparing students for digitally supported nursing care. It further underscores that pre-use acceptance is shaped by an interplay of cognitive evaluation and affective response.

• Language: English
• Keywords: technology acceptability, telemedicine, technology acceptance model, nursing education, digital health, healthcare professionals, social care professionals, technology anxiety
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Slovenija
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 9 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 26, [article no.] ǂ834
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-182921
• UDC: 61:621.39(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-09148-0
• COBISS.SI-ID: 277087491
• Publication date in RUL: 28.05.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: BMC medical education
• Shortened title: BMC Med Educ
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• ISSN: 1472-6920
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2439956

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: telemedicina, zdravstvena nega, študenti, Slovenija