Introduction:
There is no denying the importance of cell phones in the lives of the average college nursing student. Cell phones are used on a daily basis to access textbooks, pharmaceutical information, nursing care plans and interventions. They are used to maintain contact with spouses and children in daycare or with faculty preceptors in the clinical setting. “University students are the most frequent users for mobile phones compared to any other age group” (Mesbah (2017). Cell phones are used in the nursing classroom to listen to lectures, collaborate with other students, review nursing procedures, as well as to view textbook publishers’ multimedia resources. Cell phones are use to review for tests, take tests and forto prepare for the NCLEX. Because cell phones are portable they lend themselves to use in a variety of settings. They can be used in automobiles, on buses, planes or trains. Cell phones may be used as cameras. They may be used for videotaping and broadcasting news events to the world. They may even be used to communicate with significant others as one is tucked into bed and ready to fall asleep. With all of this increased usage, we are seeing negative effects on the health of the users.
The American Journal of Nursing published an article titled “Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer?” in 2010. With headlines like this one would think the entire medical community would be concerned about cell phone use. This does not seem to be the case. “Many bedside nurses don’t seem too concerned about the possible risks of cell phone radiation, said Sandra Ng, informatics nurse specialist the University of California San Francisco Medical Center.” Since the time of that headline additional studies on the effects of electromagnetic frequency (EMF) from cell phones have led to cell phones being classified as possible carcinogens by the World Health Organization.
Cell phones may emit frequencies from 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz. EMFs activate cellular stress responses. Once activated, the stress response induces the expression of stress response genes, such as heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), leading to an increased level of stress proteins. Any extensive damage or changes to DNA that need repair may increase the risk of developing cancerous cells (Miah, 2017).
According to World Health Organization,“87-90% of the population in an advanced country, like the USA, use cellphones and a sizable number of these is school and college going students”(2011). While the number of cell phone users is increasing day by day, the knowledge of the overall health risk associated with their use remains stagnant. Most people are unaware of the risk associated with cell phone usage. Studies have shown a variety of health concerns related to excessive cell phone use such as headaches, irritability, and other common mental symptoms such as lack of concentration, poor academic performance, insomnia, anxiety and physical symptoms -- body aches, eye strain, digital thumb (Acharya, 2013). Over usage of mobile phones leads to physiological health hazards like headaches, ear aches, warmth sensation, fatigue and musculoskeletal symptoms (Mesbah, 2017).
Cell phones have also been implicated as a major cause of automobile accidents. According to the National Council of State Legislators 47 states have adopted laws against texting while driving to address this problem . The World Health Organization confirmed that mobile phone use may represent a long-term health ris, classifying mobile phone radiation as a “carcinogenic hazard” and “possibly carcinogenic to humans” after a a team of scientist reviewed peer-review studies on cell phone safety (Mesbah, 2017). .It seems reasonable to assume that once cellphones were identified as a possible carcinogen, health care providers would be among the first to exercise care and caution in using cell phones. Students may not find this to be important because the are unaware of the risks.
We purpose to initiate an educational awareness campaign to educate nursing students about the importance of promoting safer ways of using cell phones. Simple interventions may encourage nursing students to act as ambassadors in educating the public about the risks of extensive cell phone and promote ways to decrease risks when using them. It is hoped that generating healthier habits in nursing students will mean healthier habits in their families and communities of professional practice.
Research Questions:
1. What are nursing student’s knowledge and usage patterns related to mobile phones?
2. Are nursing students aware of the risks associated with long term cell phone and links to the development of cancer ?
3. What is the effect of an educational service learning program on nursing students’ knowledge and actual use of safer cell phone usage practices?
Methods: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of an educational program on healthy use of cell phones among nursing students by determining current knowledge of safe cell phone practices and addressing the gaps in knowledge through a service learning project.
Research Design:
Quasi-experimental research involves the manipulation of an independent variable without the random assignment of participants to conditions. A pretest-posttest structure was chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational intervention that was conducted as a service learning project.
Materials and Methods:
A survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among second- fourth year nursing students enrolled in the ADN and BSN nursing programs at a state supported public university. The questionnaire was designed specifically for this study and contained _____ items regarding health condition and complaints as well as the frequency of mobile phone use. The number of questionnaires necessary for the study was assessed using the simple random sampling method. A total of ___ nursing students were invited to participate in the study. Out of the ______ copies distributed among the students, ______(______%) were completed (_______% by males and _______% by females) and were eventually subject to analysis. The percentage of male participants is lower than that of female participants because in this nursing college, the number of male students is significantly lower than the number of female students enrolled.
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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