Nursing informatics in clinical practice in China

Nursing informatics has become a useful tool for worldwide patient care and management; however, its implementation greatly varies according to specialty, healthcare setting, and nation. The purpose of this study was to determine nursing informatics implementation in Qiqihar, China. Questionnaires evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of nursing informatics implementation and hospital information system knowledge were distributed among three hospitals in Qiqihar. A convenient sample of 50 nurses from each hospital (total N = 150) was selected to participate in this study. Responses indicated that despite a relatively brief training period, nursing informatics was adequately implemented, and nurses were knowledgeable about hospital information systems. Respondents identified several key advantages of nursing informatics implementation, particularly its usefulness in aiding patient care for data management. Finally, respondents identified hospital information system instability as a major obstacle to nursing informatics implementation. Our study results may help clinical nursing practitioners improve their technology skills and help nursing administrators improve information programs. These findings provide an important reference for both nursing informatics practice and further studies.