Exploring Nurse Use of Digital Nursing Technology.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Technology
• Nursing Informatics
• Digital Health Adoption

Background:

• Global trends highlight increasing technological advancements and critical nursing shortages.
• Nurses, as the largest healthcare workforce segment, are pivotal for successful hospital digitization.
• Technology offers a potential solution to mitigate the impact of healthcare professional shortages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors influencing the adoption of digital nursing technology among nurses.
• To explore the relationship between innovation characteristics, user roles, and technology acceptance in nursing.
• To understand nurses' perceptions of digital technology in different hospital units.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study utilizing the innovation diffusion theory.
• Data collected via structured questionnaires and open-ended questions from 159 nurses in two Taiwanese hospitals (March-May 2022).
• Analysis focused on innovation characteristics (observability, simplicity, advantage, trialability, compatibility) and user roles (early adopters).

Main Results:

• Observability, simplicity, advantage, trialability, and compatibility significantly enhanced the acceptance of digital nursing technology.
• Early adopters played a crucial role in influencing innovation characteristics and technology acceptance.
• Nurses in acute and critical care settings reported higher perceived advantage and trial availability compared to those in general wards and outpatient clinics.

Conclusions:

• Digital nursing technology adoption is positively influenced by specific innovation characteristics and early adopter engagement.
• Tailored implementation strategies considering unit-specific perceptions are essential for successful digital technology integration.
• The development of smart healthcare and digital tools holds promise for improving the quality of nursing care.