Developing nursing students’ digital capabilities to enhance public health

The use of digital technologies is growing across healthcare settings and nurses will increasingly need to demonstrate digital literacy and proficiency. This article discusses an innovative module assignment that nursing students undertake as part of their preregistration curriculum at the University of Derby, England. Students are tasked with developing a digitally interactive poster detailing an intervention that would enhance public health. Students’ projects must be underpinned by the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and relate to an innovative health technology, a community-led intervention, a local public health campaign, a creative health improvement pathway or public access to evidence-based health information. The module assignment provides an example of how to link digital literacy and public health improvement in nurse education and how nurse educators can help develop the digital capabilities of future nurses.