Usability of Digital Health Technologies in the US: Results from a Descriptive National Online Survey of Nurses

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of digital technologies across healthcare systems, highlighting nurses' pivotal role in technology-enabled care. This paper reports findings from a US national descriptive survey conducted during the pandemic period to examine nurses' use and perceived usability of digital health technologies. An anonymous online survey was administered to registered nurses (RNs) across six US states. A total of 752 RN responses were analyzed, reporting technologies used, integration, training received, usability (measured by the System Usability Scale [SUS]), and perceived support. Stand-alone technologies were commonly used, many of which were newly introduced during the pandemic. Remote patient monitoring was the most common technology and demonstrated the highest mean SUS score (74.4), where scores above 68 indicate acceptable usability. More than half of nurses reported sufficient training, yet many cited challenges such as system crashes, poor integration, and limited informatics support. Broad adoption of digital technologies during the pandemic was accompanied by variability in usability and training. Findings highlight variation in usability across technology categories and underscore the need for ongoing informatics education, user-centered design, and interoperable infrastructures to support digital nursing practice.