Nurses' Experiences Using a Nursing Information System

TLDR

Adoption of information technology in nursing practice has become a trend in healthcare, yet its influence during the early implementation stage remains understudied. The study aims to explore nurses’ experiences during the initial phase of implementing a nursing information system to identify barriers that could shorten the transition and reduce negative impacts. Focus groups were conducted at a medical center in Taiwan to gather nurses’ perspectives on the new system. Nurses reported issues with system content design, inadequate training, data security concerns, increased workload stress, and poor interdisciplinary cooperation, leading the authors to recommend early nurse involvement in design, comprehensive keyboard training, workflow redesign, and enhanced communication.

Abstract

Adoption of information technology in nursing practice has become a trend in healthcare. The impact of this technology on users has been widely studied, but little attention has been given to its influence at the beginning stage of implementation. Knowing the barriers to adopting technology could shorten this transition stage and minimize its negative influences. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' experiences in the early stage of implementing a nursing information system. Focus groups were used to collect data at a medical center in Taiwan. The results showed that nurses had problems with the system's content design, had insufficient training, were concerned about data security, were stressed by added work, and experienced poor interdisciplinary cooperation. To smooth this beginning stage, the author recommends involving nurses early in the system design, providing sufficient training in keyboard entry skills, redesigning workflow, and improving interdisciplinary communication.