Healthcare Professionals' Concerns About Digital Transformation During Public Health Crises: A Multinational Analysis

Rapid digitalisation during public health crises has transformed healthcare delivery but also introduced new ethical, organisational and professional challenges. This study explored nurses' concerns about the increased use of technology across health services. Open-ended survey responses from six countries were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. Six themes emerged from 228 responses: technology undermining patient-centred care; data security and privacy concerns; system fragmentation and infrastructure failures; documentation burden and workflow inefficiency; human and ethical dimensions of digital care and organisational readiness, leadership and workforce support. Participants recognised technology's potential to enhance efficiency and continuity of care, yet voiced concerns about safety, equity and the loss of human contact. The findings highlight a need for crisis-resilient, human-centred and ethically managed digital transformation supported by robust infrastructures, workforce capability and organisational readiness.