Patients' experience of technology at the bedside: intravenous infusion control devices

Within health care systems, rapid and pervasive technological development is occurring with significant ramifications for both nurses and patients. In order to determine the patient's perception of the experience of clinical equipment at the bedside, an exploratory study of 150 hospitalized patients was undertaken. For this study an item of electronic clinical 'hardware', the infusion control device, used increasingly by nurses, was selected as an exemplar of bedside nursing technology. A positive patient response to the equipment and its management was found. The majority of respondents understood the reasons for the equipment's use, were not disturbed greatly by the alarms, had few concerns about the equipment and would welcome further use. A majority felt that the care they received was more patient centred than technology centred. Several recommendations for nursing practice follow from these findings.