Navigating the Digital Age: Ensuring Digital Literacy in Nursing

and Midwifery Workforce

With the healthcare sector rapidly advancing into a digital era, the responsibility of
implementing digital literacy seems ever more to be resting on healthcare leaders, who will set
the priorities in their organizations, ensuring the workforce is prepared for the exigencies arising
within a contemporary health system (Stoumpos et al., 2023). Digital technologies like EHRs,
telehealth, and data analytics are no longer emerging trends; they are used as regular tools within
clinical practice (Stoumpos et al., 2023). Support from structured leadership is vital for nurses
and midwives, central to patient care, to navigate these intricate digital environments effectively.

Digital literacy is the ability to locate, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate
information using digital technologies (Pangrazio et al., 2020). In this context, it goes beyond
having basic computing knowledge towards storing and retrieving EHRs securely, evaluating the
material on the internet effectively, protecting the patient's rights, and conversely using telehealth
technology (Pangrazio et al., 2020). These skills will improve the quality of care, maintain
patient safety, and enhance workflow efficiency in a tech-centered world.

Australia has been leading the digital health integration charge, with key national
initiatives, such as My Health Record, electronic prescriptions, and expanded telehealth services,
supporting the backbone of its National Digital Health Strategy (Krahe et al., 2024). These
initiatives aim to improve access to care, maintain continuity, and enhance patient engagement
throughout the country. Reports documenting Australia's continued commitment to digital health
capacity have also reiterated the importance of aligning healthcare professionals with evolving
national priorities (Krahe et al., 2024).

Nurses and midwives, as frontline providers, are among the primary users of digital
health tools. Their levels of digital literacy will directly influence clinical decision-making,
workflows, and ultimately patient outcomes (Janes et al., 2025). Moreover, nurses and midwives
are uniquely positioned to use the tools and influence digital health procedures and policies
(Janes et al., 2025). Therefore, empowering these groups of individuals through suitable
education programs and leadership support will provide a sustainable, inclusive, and
transformative digital transition.

The Value of Digital Skills in Clinical Practice

Digital literacy is vital in improving healthcare outcomes, especially safety and quality.
Digital tools enhance documentation and decrease human error, ensuring more accurate patient
records and allowing timely, data-backed interventions to benefit patient safety (Stoumpos et al.,
2023). Immediate access to reliable patient information and data-informed decision-making
provides the means for more efficient treatments and high-quality overall care.

In contemporary clinical practice, the application of digital technology is a primary

requisite. EHRs, CDSSs, monitoring devices, and digital communication are now at the core of
every care delivery occasion. The leaders of health systems have a significant mandate to prepare
their staff to use such tools efficiently and safely (Ferreira et al., 2025). Digital literacy can assist
professionals in maximizing the use of technologies for improved patient outcomes, streamlined
workflows, and care team communication in efficient, patient-centered care. Furthermore, it
promotes health improvements far beyond the individual level. Digital tools allow templates to
be diagnosed faster, personalize treatments, and optimize operations (Ferreira et al., 2025).
Stoumpos et al. (2023) added that telehealth programs have increasingly opened access to
resources in medically underserved areas, while analytic and predictive tools drive better
advanced clinical decisions. Hence, digital competency is the essence of the healthcare
workforce's response to the swift changes in today's health systems.

Barriers to Digital Literacy Integration

Digital literacy is fundamental for healthcare professionals; yet, in many midwifery and
nursing programs, systematic and iterative training in digital tools is lacking. Therefore, digital
competencies are most commonly learned informally, resulting in uneven skill levels across the
workforce. In the absence of standard curricula and training, new technologies are foreign to
many nurses and midwives, creating potential opportunities for errors, inefficiencies, and
hesitancy with the use of digital technology, and, in so doing, affect individual performance as
well as the delivery of healthcare on a whole (Cartile, 2020). The divide between those with
digital access and those without it exacerbates the situation, especially in rural and low-resource
healthcare settings where digital infrastructure and support become scarce. Generational
differences also play a role, as older professionals relate less frequently to different technologies,
making it challenging to adopt newer approaches. This creates inequities in the care of patients
because some practitioners lack the skills or resources necessary to engage meaningfully in
digital systems, thereby affecting patient outcomes (Reddy et al., 2022).

Another major impediment to implementing digital literacy is how many institutions

resist organizational change. Although many institutions lack a clear vision and strategy for
prioritizing digital literacy, in general, there is a lack of awareness about its long-term benefits at
an institution and a reluctance to change established processes of work. Financial constraints are
also present: in the absence of any ring-fenced funding, digital literacy training is made a low
priority in the list of competing needs; digital literacy training thus becomes almost incidental to
work, leaving health staff poorly prepared to meet the demands of a digital-first environment
(Gjellebæk et al., 2020).

Leadership and Shared Accountability

While digital literacy is a shared concern across all healthcare professionals, the
responsibility for its successful integration ultimately rests with healthcare leaders. The health
leaders provide the infrastructure, resources, and strategic vision for embedding these digital
tools into daily clinical practice. This strengthens a quality culture that supports continuous
learning and adaptation through innovation for improved patient care. Absent a clear direction
from top leadership, many initiatives in digital health stagnate and do not have the organizational
momentum required for success (Tanniru, Khuntia, & Weiner, 2018).

Healthcare leaders play a pivotal role in designing and implementing training programs
and devising them to build overall organizational digital competence among employees. They
allocate financial and technological resources and shape a culture capable of supporting the
efforts directed toward digital adoption. Leaders ensure that tools are available and integrated
into the clinical workflow by providing a clear vision and policy direction. Effective leadership
motivates staff to embrace technology, improving care quality, more efficiency, and fewer errors
(Gopal et al., 2019).

Digital literacy does not limit itself to leadership. It is everyone's responsibility. The
academicians must include digital competencies in their syllabi, and the clinicians should be
open to learning and adapting to emerging technologies. However, it is through the leadership
that this common effort now aligns, coordinates, and makes it sustainable. Otherwise, the
integration becomes fragmentary and undermines the more significant digital transformation
goals. At the same time, the leadership is essential to implementing systems that will help build a
shared and long-term accountability model (Naamati-Schneider, Arazi-Fadlon, & Daphna-
Tekoah, 2024).

The Leader thus faces the challenge of the digital divide and resistance to change,
especially in the under-resourced rural areas. The benefits of tools such as EHR and CDSS on
patients cannot be realized because quality casualties among staff are not competent or have
proper support to use these instruments (Ferreira et al., 2025). Health structures can fill these
leaky gaps and empower a digitally competent workforce capable of safer, more efficient,
patient-centered care delivery through investing in structured training, venturing inclusion into
the workforce, and cultivating a forward-thinking culture.

Pathways to Digital Competence

Healthcare administrators advocate for integrating digital literacy into continuous

professional development (CPD) programs across the healthcare system. They should not limit
their efforts to offering endorsement of such training but instead should develop and mandate
meaningful CPD programs, which have digital elements attuned to clinical environments. As a
result of requiring induction and refresher courses in critical technologies, leaders ensure that all
staff acquire the necessary hands-on skills for using digital tools efficiently and effectively in
inpatient care (Tischendorf et al., 2024). For this reason, the digital components embedded in
continuing education imply the workforce's agility, preparedness, and competency in terms of
new requirements.
 Aligning with national frameworks like those of the Australian Digital Health Agency on
their fronts can enable leaders to drive institutional policies promoting changes in standardizing
competence digitally across roles and departments. Digital literacy needs to become
encompassed in job expectations and performance assessments so that all employees take it
seriously as an important competency. The policy, which incorporates the development of digital
skill use in everyday practice, paired with appraisal systems, builds accountability and
perpetuates organizational commitment to digital transformation- Australian Digital Health
Agency (2025).

It also needs to be tied with partnerships that enhance institutional capacity towards
transforming digitally: partnering with technology vendors, universities, and government
agencies, focusing on rural or under-resourced areas. Partnerships should be initiated and
sustained to allow leadership to house the newest tools, create the appropriate curricula, and
obtain funding for implementation. Those strategic alliances would keep health organizations
adaptive, equitable, and future-ready. Gopal et al. (2019).

Above all else, leaders should ensure that their digital tools are adopted, user-centered,
and appropriate for everyday practice. This will require consultation with nurses, midwives, and
other frontline staff during the technology systems' design and implementation phases. Leaders
can direct the process to ensure that the introduced tools add to the clinical workflow and patient
outcomes rather than detract from them. A commitment to inclusive, user-informed innovation
makes introducing technology more effective and reduces resistance to change (Tischendorf et
al., 2024).

Ultimately, healthcare leaders should be concerned about creating a culture where digital
literacy is acknowledged as an asset for professional growth. Protected time for learning and
training, mentoring, and integrating digital skills into advancing professional careers is a
hallmark of such an environment. These kinds of leaders, therefore, will develop a confident and
future-ready workforce by promoting structured learning and making digital upskilling part of
their professional identities. In doing this, they would strengthen not only the digital capacities of
their teams but also the overall quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare delivery
(Kruszyńska-Fischbach et al., 2022).
Conclusion and Way Forward

Healthcare leaders are the primary engines in driving digital transformation within health
systems. They became crucial to creating a culture in which digital literacy is encouraged and
foundational to the core competencies of nursing and midwifery practice. Beyond technical
stewardship, this role demands visionary leadership that endorses innovation and staff readiness
to accomplish quality patient care. Leaders' prioritization of training and support for technology
use translates into operational efficiency, care quality, and patient safety during this digital age
(Tanniru et al., 2018).

The role of leadership also carries a moral obligation. Healthcare leaders should
guarantee patients' safety on the premise that their staff are digitally literate by eliminating the
risk of inadequacy connected to outdated systems or underutilized technologies (Gopal et al.,
2019). Building digital fluency in their workforce permits leaders to establish technologically
advanced healthcare environments that are safer, efficient, and sensitive to their patients' needs.
Their leadership forms the lynchpin for linking digital tools and clinical excellence to shape
healthcare delivery's present and future (Jones et al., 2019).

The way ahead needs to be continued and strategically invested in digital literacy.
Healthcare leaders must advocate for CPD activity in developing the profession and for digital
training that caters to real-life clinical contexts (Tischendorf et al., 2024). They should ensure
that digital competence finds a place in job expectations while also making provisions for
mentoring, real-time support, and career pathways. Such should also include advocacy for
performance evaluation systems recognizing digital skills as core indicators of professional
development.

Leaders should thus assume a proactive role in influencing policy to make digital literacy
institutionalized by ensuring that every member of the healthcare workforce, from urban
hospitals to rural clinics, becomes equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to thrive in a
digital ecosystem (Australian Digital Health Agency, 2020). By doing so, they are supporting
their teams and future-proofing healthcare itself. Ultimately, healthcare leaders who embrace and
lead digital transformation will be instrumental in building a workforce that is confident,
competent, and capable of delivering care that is not only effective but also equitable, connected,
and patient-centered.

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