Abstract
BACKGROUND: Digital self-efficacy is a crucial determinant of healthcare professionals' ability to adapt to technological innovations. Understanding its predictors among nurses and nursing students is essential for workforce readiness. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of digital self-efficacy and examine demographic, educational, and experiential factors associated with inadequate self-efficacy. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 1081 Italian nurses and nursing students. The Digitech-S scale was used to measure digital self-efficacy, with ≥70/100 indicating adequacy. Logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of inadequate self-efficacy. RESULTS: Only 47.1% of participants demonstrated adequate self-efficacy. Females had twice the odds of inadequate self-efficacy compared to males (OR = 2.038, p < 0.001). Nurses with bachelor's degrees had 2.5 times higher odds than students (OR = 2.450, p < 0.001), while post-graduate education showed no effect. Early technology adoption before age 14 reduced the odds (OR = 0.675, p = 0.027). Each additional year of work experience decreased the odds by 4% (OR = 0.955, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Gender disparities persist in digital self-efficacy, and unexpectedly, students outperformed bachelor-level nurses. Findings highlight educational gaps and the importance of early exposure to technology. Tailored interventions are needed to strengthen digital readiness, which may improve care quality and healthcare system efficiency in the digital era.