An Assessment of Perception towards Computers in Health Care among Nurses in Selected Tertiary Care Centre, North India: Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

The health sector is faced with tremendous advancement in digital, namely, in utilization of computers. Nursing is continually exposed to a myriad of changes in technological advancements. The objectives of the study were to assess the perception towards computers in health care among nurses in selected tertiary care hospital and to determine association of nurse’s perception towards health care with selected demographic variables. This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted using convenient sampling of 170 nurses who worked in UP University of Medical Sciences. The inclusive criteria included qualified nurses and staff nurses on duty who agreed to participate, whereas nurses on leave and student nurses were excluded. A standardized modified pretest for attitudes toward computers in health care (PATCH Scale) was used as instrument for data collection. Ethical consideration was obtained from the respective authorities. Informed consents was taken from the subjects and ensured about confidentiality of information provided by them. The study revealed that nurses had moderately favorable perception towards computerization. The mean ± SD perception score of nurses’ towards health care was 50.36 ± 4.460. The minimum perception score was 37 while maximum score obtained was 62. Statistically insignificant associations were observed with demographic variables such as age, gender, designation, qualification, nursing experience, residence, sate of domicile, marital status, any access to computer, type of computer used, and any computer course obtained. Generally, nurses have moderately favorable perception towards computerization and this information is essential for the planning and implementation of computerization in the hospital as suggested by other studies too