Cyber nursing: a conceptual framework

Abstract

There have been few attempts to express in words and conceptualise ‘the Internet’ and ‘health’ within a framework. The aim of this study was to present a conceptual framework concerning virtual self-care and online caring. The results show that the concepts of virtual communities, virtual self-care and torrenting frame these very specific interactions and environments and that the concepts of ‘keyboard cowboy’ ‘cyber aid’ and ‘health-interests trader’ stipulate different ways in which to express expertise in cyber nursing. Alongside cyber bullying, cyber nursing is also present in virtual arenas. Nursing researchers need to explore and monitor cyber nursing activities using concepts developed within the field of nursing.