What nurses want: diffusion of an innovation

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Clinical Decision Support Systems
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Effective research utilization is crucial for evidence-based nursing practice.
• Timely access to electronic health information can significantly aid clinical decision-making.
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) offer potential for mobile access to practice information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the usability of PDAs for improving research utilization among nurses.
• To assess the role of PDAs in providing timely access to electronic practice information for clinical decisions.
• To explore nurses' experiences with using PDAs as a decision support tool.

Main Methods:

• A usability study involving nurses using a PDA-based decision support tool.
• Data collection at the point of care using the PDA.
• Follow-up interviews to gather qualitative feedback on usability.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported positive usability experiences with PDAs.
• Key benefits included PDA portability, size, and software ease of use.
• The PDA facilitated point-of-care outcomes data collection.

Conclusions:

• PDAs are a usable technology for enhancing nurses' access to practice information.
• Electronic decision support tools on PDAs show potential for improving research utilization.
• Implementing PDAs can contribute to improved quality of nursing care.