Nurses' attitudes towards the use of computers in clinical practice

Abstract

Several studies carried out to determine nurses' attitudes towards computers indicated that there are still many nurses who are unconvinced of the benefits of computers with regards to the provision of quality patient care (Levy et al, 1999). The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' attitudes towards using computers in their practice. Nurses' attitudes were also examined in relation to various variables, namely gender, nursing grade, ward setting, level of education, nursing experience, and previous computer experience. A questionnaire used in a study by Getty at al (1999) was used in this study to identify the attitudes of nurses towards the use of computers in clinical practice. A stratified sampling technique was used and 30 nurses participated in this study. The majority of nurses (83%) displayed neutral attitudes towards the use of computers in clinical practice. There were no major differences noted when nurses' attitudes were compared with gender, nursing grade, ward setting and previous computer experience. However higher levels of education appeared to be associated with more positive attitudes. Also more recently qualified nurses were shown to have more positive attitudes towards computer use than nurses with more than 10 years experience in nursing. Comments and suggestions expressed by participants reveal concerns about the use of computers in practice, and provide suggestions that might help to make computers on the wards more user friendly.