Computer literacy and the impact of health information systems on work and quality control in nursing practice
Abstract
Abstract Health information system includes a wide range of products, technologies and services such
as remote and mobile health technology, cloud-based services, medical devices, tele-monitoring
devices, assistive and sensor technologies, electronic health records, electronic medical records and
other applications of information technologies in healthcare. Objective: To determine whether the
method of acquiring IT knowledge affects computer literacy and how the implementation of HIS affects
work and quality control. Methodology: The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study, in the
population of nurses. The sample consisted of 116 respondents, who voluntarily agreed to participate
in the research. Results: Respondents who have formal education in informatics showed a higher level
of knowledge than respondents who do not. It was established that there is a statistically significant
difference in computer literacy between respondents who acquired IT knowledge in different ways.
Those who rated themselves better have higher scores on the knowledge test. The data indicate the
existence of statistical significance of differences depending on the self-assessment of one's own
computer skills. Almost half (46.7%) of respondents believe that the implementation of HIS made work
easier, while 26% of them believe that it had no impact on work or made work more difficult. The
largest percentage (59.9%) of respondents believed that the health information system facilitated
quality control. Conclusion: The way of acquiring knowledge has the greatest influence on the
computer literacy of nurses: nurses who had formal education showed a higher level of computer
literacy. Nurses believe that thanks to the implementation of HIS, the quality control of the provided
services has been significantly improved. The majority of health workers in the initial stages of
introduction, application and development of the health information system had no formal education.
Nevertheless, with the support of the institutions, they made a significant contribution to the
implementation of HIS in the Republic of Serbia.
References
Haux R. Health information systems - past, present, future. Int J Med Inform, 2006;75:, p. 268.
Pai F-Y, Huang K-I, Applying the Technology Acceptance Model to the introduction of healthcare information systems. Technol Forecast Soc Change; 2011, pp. 650–660.
Hillestad R., Bigelow J., Bower A. et al., Can electronic medical record systems transform health care? Potential health benefits, savings, and costs, 2005;24(5), pp.1103-1117.
Nutbeam D. Health Literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health promotion international. 2000; 15(3): 209.
Mogford E, Gould L, Devoght A. Teaching critical health literacy in the US as a means to action on the social determinants of health. Health Promotion International. 2010; 26(1): 4-13.
Easton P, Entwistle V, Williams B. Health in the ‘hidden population’ of people with low literacy. A systematic review of the literature. BMC Public Health. 2010; 10: 459. Avaible from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/459.
Stanisavljević S., Kekuš D. Zdravstvena pismenost - savremeni postulat zdravstvenog vaspitanja i promocije zdravlja. 46. Međunarodni kongres Dani preventivne medicine, Niš , 2012.
Porter M., Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg, Redefining Health Care:Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, 2006, p. 104.
Dilu E, Gebreslassie M, Kebede M. Human Resource Information System implementation readiness in the Ethiopian health sector: a cross-sectional study. Hum Resour Health. 2017 Dec 20;15(1):85. doi: 10.1186/s12960-017-0259-3.
Ishijima H, Mapunda M, Mndeme M, Sukums F, Mlay VS. Challenges and opportunities for effective adoption of HRH information systems in developing countries: national rollout of HRHIS and TIIS in Tanzania. Hum Resour Health. 2015 Jun 16;13:48. doi: 10.1186/s12960- 015-0043-1.
Krishnan SK, Singh M. Issues and concerns in the implementation and maintenance of HRIS. Management and Labour Studies. 2007 Nov;32(4):522-40.
Kaya N. Factors affecting nurses' attitudes toward computers in healthcare. Comput Inform Nurs. 2011 Feb;29(2):121-9. doi: 10.1097/NCN.0b013e3181f9dd0f.
Merrow SL. Graduate nursing students’ knowledge of computer terminology and attitudes toward computers. Proc Annu Symp Comput Appl Med Care. 1988;9:350–354.
Rababah JA, Al-Hammouri MM, Ta'an WF. A study of the relationship between nurses' experience, structural empowerment, and attitudes toward computer use. Int J Nurs Sci. 2021 Sep 18;8(4):439-443. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2021.09.007.
Laramee AS, Bosek MS, Shaner-McRae H, Powers-Phaneuf T. Nurses' attitude toward the Electronic Health Record still uncertain after 6 months. Heart & Lung: The Journal of Cardiopulmonary and Acute Care. 2010 Jul 1;39(4):357-8.
Salameh B, Eddy LL, Batran A, Hijaz A, Jaser S. Nurses Attitudes Toward the Use of an Electronic Health Information System in a Developing Country. SAGE Open Nurs. 2019 Apr 18;5:2377960819843711. doi: 10.1177/2377960819843711.
Hwang JI, Park HA. Factors associated with nurses informatics competency. Comput Inform Nurs. 2011 Apr;29(4):256-62. doi: 10.1097/NCN.0b013e3181fc3d24.
Eley R, Fallon T, Soar J, Buikstra E, Hegney D. Barriers to use of information and computer technology by Australia nurses: a national survey. J Clin Nurs. 2009 Apr;18(8):1151-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02336.x.
Kipturgo MK, Kivuti-Bitok LW, Karani AK, Muiva MM. Attitudes of nursing staff towards computerisation: a case of two hospitals in Nairobi, Kenya. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2014 Apr 29;14:35. doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-14-35.