Nurses lack confidence in use of information technology

Research in the latest issue of the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing (AJAN) has raised concerns about the lack of confidence of nurses in the use of information technology.

The research, which was funded by the Department of Health and Ageing, surveyed a random sample 10,000 nurse members of the Australian Nursing Federation.

According to Professor Desley Hegney, lead researcher for the study, for most of Australia’s nurses, experience and confidence in use of information technology is confined to basic computer and common applications.

“In order to use information technology to support health delivery, action to increase access for nurses and remove barriers to use is urgently required,” Professor Hegney said.

Of the 4,330 respondents (response rate 43.3%), 86% used computers at work. Most frequent uses were for managing patient records, continuing professional education, communication, accessing policies and procedures and accessing clinical results.

Experience in the use of information technology ranged from 90% for a common application such as word processing to 64% for reference tools. However, even the most used applications were used by less than 40% of total respondents to the study.

Confidence in use of the technology was generally low with fewer than 25% of nurses stating they were very confident in using any software application. Results varied by level of nurse, their age, and length of time in nursing. Assistants in nursing and enrolled nurses had significantly lower experience and confidence than registered nurses, while younger nurses and those with the least time in nursing were more experienced and confident.

Volume 25 Issue 3 is now available online at http://www.ajan.com.au