Edinburgh Napier University

  ART & SCIENCE NEXT
Attitudes to information technology: toys or tools?
Sharon Levy Research Student, School of Science & Engineering, University of Abertay, Bell Street Dundee DDI 1HG
Brian Williams Tayside Research Co-ordinator, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee. DDI 9SY
Information systems are a powerful ‘engine’ of change. Managing the change process effectively, whilst implementing a new information system within the care environment, may facilitate the efficient development of quality patient care. Incorporating the use of a computerised information system into everyday professional practice, requires nurses not only to overcome any resistance to change, but also to become willing users and creative operators of Information Technology (IT). This article is a summary of research, conducted as part of a benefit realisation programme, set to assess practitioners’ attitudes towards using computers within clinical settings. The study was carried out prior to the implementation of an information system and subjects included all grades and specialities of nurses and midwives working in 6 hospitals of one Scottish NHS Trust which provides both acute mental health and community services.

This study confirms that a large majority of nurses and midwives have positive attitudes towards computer use in their practice areas. Furthermore, many care professionals indicated that their current manual process, involved in gathering patient’s information, is inefficient. However, many are still unconvinced whether computerised systems will record workload accurately to become an effective clinical and management tool. The study also found that senior staff possess a greater degree of conviction as to the potential benefits or disbenefits of computer use in the delivery of care. This study, unlike similar research elsewhere, did not find a relationship between age and staff’s attitudes towards computers.