A framework for designing nursing knowledge management systems

Abstract

The health care industry is increasingly becoming a knowledge-based community that depends critically on knowledge management (KM) activities to improve the quality of care. Utilizing knowledge management systems (KMS) to manage medical information and health care knowledge to support the full spectrum of knowledge needs in the nursing process has become an important issue for nursing professionals. Hence, the objective of this research is to propose a conceptual framework that integrates nursing process, KM activities, and enabling information technology (IT) for designing such a nursing KMS. The framework indicates the critical knowledge management activities in nursing process and the enabling IT based on the task/technology fit theory. With this framework, KMS developers can work with nursing professionals to easily identify the suitable IT associated with the nursing process when developing a nursing KMS.