RIS ID
17756
Abstract
The burden of paper-based nursing documentation has led to increasing complaints and decreasing job satisfaction amongst aged-care workers in Australian nursing homes. The automation of nursing documentation has been identified as one of the possible strategies to address this issue. A major obstacle to the introduction of IT solutions, however, has been a prevailing doubt concerning the ability and/or the willingness of aged-care workers to accept such innovation . This research investigates the attitudes of aged-care workers towards adopting IT innovation. Questionnaire survey were conducted in 13 nursing homes around the Illawarra and Sydney regions in Australia. The survey found that an unexpected 89.3% of participants supported the strategy of introducing electronic nursing documentation systems into residential aged-care facilities. 94.3% of them would use such a system depending on circumstances. Despite a shortage of computers in the workplace, which is a major barrier, this research provides strong evidence that care workers in residential aged-care facilities are willing to accept electronic nursing documentation practice and the uptake of information technology in residential aged-care is feasible in Australia.
Publication Details
Yu, P., Qiu, Y. & Crookes, P. A. (2006). Computer-based nursing documentation in nursing homes: a feasibility study. In H. Park, P. Murray & C. Delaney (Eds.), Consumer-Centered Computer-Supported Care for Healthy People: Proceedings of NI2006 - The 9th International Congress on Nursing Informatics (pp. 570-574). Amsterdam: ISO Press.