Reflections on Distributive Leadership for Work-Based Mobile Learning of Canadian Registered Nurses

Abstract

The ubiquity, flexibility, and accessibility of mobile devices can transform how registered nurses in Canada learn beyond the confines of traditional education/training boundaries in their work settings. Many Canadian registered nurses have actively embraced mobile technologies for their work-based learning to meet their competency requirements for professional nursing practice. As self-directed learners, they are using these learning tools at point-of-need to access rich online healthcare resources, collaborate, and share information within their communities of practices. Yet, paradoxically, there are Canadian healthcare organizations that have not embraced work-based mobile learning and their contextual factors constrain and/or impede registered nurses' learning. Therefore, the goal of this reflective paper is to stimulate discussion on distributive leadership strategies for embedding this pedagogical mode of learning into Canadian healthcare workplaces for registered nurses' ongoing skills and continuing professional development.