A Comparative Study
to Assess an Attitude towards Computer Application in Nursing Practice among the
Staff Nurses
Mrs. P. Vadivukkarasi
Ramanadin1, Prof. G. Muthamilselvi2, Prof. Manjeet Kaur3
1Asst. Professor, Dept. of
OBG., Mata Sahib Kaur
College of Nursing, Mohali, Punjab.
2Professor cum Principal, Vinayaka
Missions College of Nursing, Pudhucherry
3Professor cum Principal, Mata Sahib Kaur College of Nursing, Mohali,
Punjab,
*Corresponding Author Email: krishraghav2010@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Nursing
is professional caring. Though we are in technology world many of the Hospital
follows the most of the traditional method of nursing care which has got lot of
paper work than the client care. This trend has to be changed. Hence this study
is focusing on assessment and comparison of Nurses attitude towards computer
application in nursing practice by a standardized tool P.A.T.C.H (Pretest for Attitudes Toward
Computers in Healthcare). Quantitative approach with descriptive
research design was used for the study. Staff Nurses working in Private
Hospital and Government Hospital were selected by using convenient sampling
technique. Total sample size is forty. Prochaska Diclementes Stage of Change Model theory was applied for
the present study. Both descriptive and inferential technique was used for the
study. Study findings shows, according to P.A.T.C.H. Scale Private Staff Nurses
had 5% of the limited awareness, 40% of them had realistic view, 50% of them
had enthusiastic view and 5% of them had idealistic view about computer
application in nursing practice. Government Staff Nurses had 35% realistic
view, 55% of them had enthusiastic view and 10% of them had idealistic view.
Among the Private staff Nurses 59% of them had positive attitude, 20% of them
had negative attitude and 21% of them were expressed that no opinion. Among the
Government Staff Nurses 59.5% of them had positive attitude, 15% of them were
had negative attitude and 25.5% of them were expressed as no opinion. Chi
square test was used to find out the association between attitude and selected
demographic variables at 0.05 level of significance.
It shows that there is no association between attitude and age, sex, education,
Year of experience, Income, Type of family, religion, marital status and Place
of residence. There is association between attitude and Source of information.
Overall finding of the study shows that there is no much difference between
private and government staff nurses towards computer application in nursing
practice. They must be educated regarding current trends and recent advancement
by using information technology.
KEY WORDS: P.A.T.C.H
(Pretest for Attitudes Toward Computers
in Healthcare), Nursing Informatics, Prochaska Diclementes
Stage of Change Model, Enthusiastic view and Idealistic view.
INTRODUCTION:
P.A.T.C.H (Pretest
for Attitudes Toward Computers in Healthcare)1
Nursing care seeks mutual
resolution of health care deficits in individuals, groups, and communities.
Nurses have the knowledge
and skills needed to provide quality care for those who have either a temporary
or permanent loss of their self-care capabilities. Caring of this sort may
involve anything from psycho-physiologic problems to deficits in personal or
family health knowledge. This caring always includes genuine warmth, kindness,
and empathy.2 As we are living in
technology era, we should go along with current trend which is one of the
standards of profession. Application of computer skill in nursing field is
increasingly evident now a day. Hospital Information Systems are sophisticated,
highly integrated communication systems concerned primarily with client
clinical information. One essential application is the recording and monitoring
of the nursing staff's educational activities.3
Nursing requires computer
competencies. Nursing informatics is a narrower, specialized field inside of
the wider medical informatics. Nursing informatics represents the way that
nurses utilize technology in their daily duties. This includes using the latest
developments to help make nursing more modern and efficient while still
providing excellent personalized patient care. 4Computers influences
nursing profession in many ways and reducing workload that will enhance Nurses
to give Quality nursing care. Nurses all around the world have risen to the
challenge of new technology. Mainly it can be used in nursing documentation.
Nursing requires computer competencies. First of all Nurses should have
positive attitude towards innovation in nursing practice.5
Hence the researcher would
like to assess the attitude towards computer application in nursing practice
and compare the attitude of Staff Nurses working in Private and Government
sector by using standardized PATCH scale.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
There have been much advancement
in the field of health care in the last two decades and this progress seems to
be advancing with even more speed in the future. One of such areas is the
nursing informatics, which has nearly revolutionized the health care system.
Nursing informatics is an evolving specialty of nursing and is playing a
substantial role in health care information system, features and functions. 6
Although worldwide this specialty has become well established but in the
developing countries like India the field is still in the budding stage.
Computers have been added as a compulsory subject in all the nursing courses,
yet the expertise and the utilization of this knowledge is limited. This paper
reviews the literature to draw information on the past, present and the future
of nursing informatics.
In order to shape the future
it is definitely important to peep into our past so that we can retrieve useful
information, facts and issues from those old days. It is well accepted that
communication of information is an important aspect of nursing. In fact
Florence Nightingale stressed a lot on authenticity of the information used and
conveyed by nurses. She also collected and analyzed and graphically presented
the data as a statistician. In this light Florence Nightingale is being
considered as the first nurse information.
Nursing standards have been
rising slowly but steadily7. If we look through the past as well as
the present, very little progress has been made in this regard. Even today
there are lots of issues in obtaining the right information at the right time.
Just about 35 years ago, personal computers were non-existent, but today it is
unimaginable to function without these computers in one or the other form. The
technology is evolving at a tremendous speed raising issues related to
competencies and training of the professionals. This makes the enhancement of
knowledge and understanding of nursing informatics even more urgent.
OBJECTIVES:
· To assess the attitude towards computer application in
nursing practice among the Staff Nurses working in Private Hospital and
Government Hospital
· To compare the attitude towards computer application in
nursing practice among the Staff Nurses working in Private Hospital and
Government Hospital
· To find out the association towards computer application
in nursing practice among the Staff Nurses with selected demographic variables.
NULL HYPOTHESES:
H0 There will not be any positive attitude
towards computer application in nursing Practice among the Staff Nurses working
in Private Hospital at 0.05 level of significance
H0 There will not be a significant difference on attitude
towards computer application in
nursing practice among the Staff Nurses working in Private Hospital and
Government Hospital at 0.05 level of significance
H0 There will not be any significant association between
Staff Nurses attitude towards computer application in nursing practice with
selected demographic variables at 0.05 level of significance.
METHODOLOGY:
Research approach:
Quantitative research
approach was used for the present study
Research Design:
Descriptive - Comparative
research design was used
Setting:
Selected Private &
Government Hospital sector, Puducherry was used for
setting.
Population:
All the Staff Nurses working
at Selected Private & Government Hospital sector, Puducherry
was used as a Population for the present study
Sample:
Staff nurses who are all
available and interested to participate in the study during the data collection
period were included with inclusion criteria.
Sample Size:
Forty Staff nurses were
participated in the study. Twenty from the private Sector and twenty from the
Government sector
Sampling Technique:
Convenient sampling
technique was used to select the samples.
Description of the Tool:
Section I - It consist of Demographic variables such as age, sex,
education, year of experience, income, type of family, Religion, marital
status, place of residence and source of information
Section II-P.A.T.C.H (Pretest for Attitudes Toward
Computers in Healthcare) standardized scale was used as a tool. It is a Five
point Likert scale with 50 items which bring the
attitude of health care professionals towards application of computers in
health care set up.
Data Analysis:
Both descriptive and
inferential statistics were used. Chi square test was used to find out the association between attitude and
selected demographic variables.
CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK:
Prochaska Diclementes Stages of
Change Model
Pre contemplation:
Increase awareness of need
for change; personalize information on risks and benefits. Researcher would
like to assess the usage of computers in nursing practice
Contemplation:
Motivate, encourage making
specific plans. Investigator assess and compare the
attitude towards computer application in nursing among the Staff Nurses of
Private and Government sector.
Decision:
Assist in developing
concrete action. PATCH scale used to assess the attitude of Staff Nurses
towards computer application in nursing practice.
Action:
Assist with feedback,
problem solving, social support, reinforcement. In-service education could be
planned to change the staff nurses attitude & enhance their skill in
computer application.
Maintenance:
Assist in coping, reminders,
finding alternatives, avoiding slips/relapses (as applies). Hospital should
accept the Innovations in nursing practice.
Certificate in Computer
course should be a mandatory for all Staff nurses.
Figure 1: Prochaska Diclementes Stages of
Change model theory
Figure: 1 shows that application of Prochaska
Diclementes Stages of change model in assessment of
attitude of staff nurses in their clinical practice.
RESULTS:
PART- I
TABLE: 1 DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPANTS ACCORDING TO THE
DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES
|
Sl. No |
Demographic variables |
Age |
Distribution of participants (%) |
|
1 |
Age |
20 25 |
52.5 |
|
|
25 30 |
30 |
|
|
|
30 35 |
10 |
|
|
35 & above |
7.5 |
||
|
2 |
Sex |
Female |
67.5 |
|
|
Male |
32.5 |
|
|
3 |
Education |
DGNM |
32.5 |
|
|
B.Sc.(N) |
62.5 |
|
|
|
M.Sc.(N) |
5 |
|
|
4 |
Income |
< 5,000/- |
42.5 |
|
|
5,000 10,000 |
15 |
|
|
|
10,000< |
42.5 |
|
|
5 |
Year of Experience |
< 3 Years |
67.5 |
|
|
4 6 Years |
15 |
|
|
|
> 6 Years |
17.5 |
|
|
6 |
Type of Family |
Nuclear |
70 |
|
|
Joint |
30 |
|
|
7 |
Religion |
Hindu |
75 |
|
|
Christian |
22.5 |
|
|
|
Muslim |
2.5 |
|
|
8 |
Marital Status |
Single |
70 |
|
|
Married |
30 |
|
|
9 |
Place of residence |
Urban |
65 |
|
|
rural |
35 |
|
|
10 |
Source of Information |
Newspaper |
42.5 |
|
|
Electronic media |
40 |
|
|
|
Health professionals |
17.5 |
Table 1shows that the distribution of Staff Nurses according
to their demographic variables. Maximum number of participants (52.5%) were
belongs to the age group of 20-25 years, 67.5% of the staff nurses were female. 62.5% of them
were B.Sc.(N) graduates, 42.5% of them were getting less than rs.5,000/- &
42.5% of them were getting more than Rs.10,000/-, Maximum participants (67.5% )
were had less than 3 years of experience, 70% of them were nuclear family, 75%
of them were Hindus, 70% of them were single, 60% 0f them were residing in
urban area and 42.5% of them gained
knowledge through Newspaper.
PART-II
TABLE:2
ATTITUDE TOWARDS COMPUTER APPLICATION BY PATCH
|
Sl. No |
Variables |
Limited awareness |
Realistic view |
Enthusiastic view |
Idealistic view |
|
1 |
Private Staff Nurses |
5% |
40% |
50% |
5% |
|
2 |
Govt. Staff Nurses |
- |
35% |
55% |
10% |
Table: 2 shows that findings according to P.A.T.C.H. Scale
Private Staff Nurses had 5% of the limited awareness, 40% of them had realistic
view, 50% of them had enthusiastic view and 5% of them had idealistic view
about computer application in nursing practice. Government Staff Nurses had 35%
realistic view, 55% of them had enthusiastic view and 10% of them had
idealistic view.
TABLE: 3 ATTITUDES
TOWARDS COMPUTER APPLICATION
|
Sl.No |
Variables |
Mean Percentage |
||
|
Positive attitude |
Negative Attitude |
No opinion |
||
|
1 |
Private Staff Nurses |
59% |
20% |
21% |
|
2 |
Govt. Staff Nurses |
59.5% |
15% |
25.5% |
Table: 3 shows that positive &
negative attitude of staff nurse towards computer application in nursing
practice. Among the Private staff Nurses 59% of them had positive attitude, 20%
of them had negative attitude and 21% of them were expressed that no opinion.
Among the Government Staff Nurses 59.5% of them had positive attitude, 15% of
them were had negative attitude and 25.5% of them were expressed as no opinion.
PART III
TABLE: 4 Association
between selected demographic variables and level of knowledge
|
S.No |
Variable |
λ2 Value |
Table value at 0.05 level |
Level of significant |
|
|
1 |
Age |
1.49 |
3.89 |
Not Significant |
|
|
2 |
Sex |
1.04 |
|||
|
3 |
Education |
2.92 |
|||
|
4 |
Year of Experience |
0.18 |
|||
|
5 |
Income |
0.78 |
|||
|
6 |
Type of family |
1.92 |
|||
|
7 |
Religion |
1.12 |
|||
|
8 |
Marital status |
0.92 |
|||
|
9 |
Place of residence |
1.74 |
|||
|
10 |
Source of information |
6.06 |
3.89 |
Significant |
|
Table: 4 Shows the association between attitude and selected
demographic variables. It shows that there is no association between attitude
and age, sex, education, Year of experience, Income, Type of family, religion,
marital status and Place of residence. But there is an association between
attitude and Source of information.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The study findings shows
that Staff Nurses have less knowledge on computer application in nursing
practice, negative attitude towards it and less positive attitude towards it.
·
In service
education programme can be planned to enhance the
knowledge towards computer application
·
Nursing
informatics can be implemented in clinical area
·
Continuing education
can be planned for Nurses
·
Computer course
can be mandatory for the staff nurses
·
Salary hikes can
be made for additional educational qualification with computer knowledge
Computers in hospitals carry
with them exciting and challenging potential for Nursing. Clinical practice
reflecting high quality standards of care can be defined, and for the first
time communicated to each nursing practitioner to become an integral component
of her daily planning and documenting of patient care. For the nursing administrator,
the department's philosophy can now be translated into concrete practice. But,
the nurse administrator must also ensure that the practice reflected in the
computer is current and is valid. The content of nursing applications must meet
the needs of all practitioners regardless of education level, experience or
clinical specialty. Mechanisms must be in place for the continuing evaluation
of changing practice with the means to change the content of the nursing
pathways in the computer quickly and easily. In the struggle for recognition as
a profession, Nursing now has a unique opportunity to
define and validate nursing's clinical practice. How it meet
this challenge will chart the course of Nursing for the future.
CONCLUSION:
The study findings show that
Staff Nurses working in both Private and Government sector have positive
attitude than negative attitude towards computer application in nursing
practice and also 21 to 25% of them have expressed that no opinion to few
items. It shows that still we are lack in computer usage in nursing. Computer
has become the part and parcel of life of people in developed countries. So
its a high time for us to accept and practice the innovation in nursing
practice for providing quality nursing care.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. P.A.T.C.H. Assessment Scale V.
3 (Pretest for Attitudes Toward Computers
in Healthcare) © June Kaminski 1996 2012. Retrieved from http://nursing-informatics.com/niassess/
plan.html
2. Patricia A.
Potter and Anne Griffin Perr. Fundamentals of Nursing. Elsevier
a division of Reed Elsevier India private Lt, New Delhi. 2005; 6th ed.
3. Carter J. Standards of
Nursing Care. Springer Publishing Company, New York. 1976.
4. Jiang WW,
Chen W and Chen YC. Important computer
competencies for the nursing profession. Sep;12(3); 2004: 213-26.
5. Janet
B. Kelly. Computers in Hospitals:
Nursing Practice Defined and Validated. 1989: 206-216. A review. Available from: URL:
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4612-3622-1_21
6. Harriet
Helen Werley. Nursing Information Systems. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2003 Mar-Apr; 10(2): 224225. A review available from :URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC150375/
7. Lysaught,
J. From Abstract into Action. National
Commission for the Study of Nursing and Nursing Education. McGraw-Hill,
New York. 1973.
Received on 09.02.2013 Modified
on 09.03.2013
Accepted on 25.03.2013
© A&V Publication all right reserved
Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research 3(2):
April.-June 2013; Page 82-86