Use of information technology by advanced practice nurses

The purpose of this study is to describe the use of information technology by advance practice nurses. A survey of 519 graduates of the Simmons College nurse practitioner program was conducted. Areas of investigation included the nurse practitioner's use of informatics technology, perception of information technology competence, adequacy of information technology training and support in the workplace, specific information technology health functions used in the workplace, and perceived benefits of using information technology. The data on the 249 usable responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. These analyses compare the use of information technology by type of job, specialty, years of practice, and setting of work. Results indicate that more than 90% of nurse practitioners utilize computers at work, yet a large fraction of them still have low self-perception of information technology competence, believe initial training at the work site was inadequate, and believe that academic preparation for information technology was also inadequate. There is considerable variation in these measures across nurse practitioner specialties, settings of care, job characteristics, and experience.