New Zealand Nurses Use and Perception of Digital Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Globally nursing practice changed in 2020 with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rapid increase in the use of digital health technologies by nurses. This 2022 study is part of a wider international project investigating nurses’ use and perception of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic with data collected through an anonymous online survey of nurses. This paper reports on the Aotearoa New Zealand arm of the study where 191 nurses from a range of clinical settings, including acute hospital care, mental health and addiction services, and community care, completed the online survey. The majority of technologies used by nurses were online communication tools (n=48; 29.5%), electronic patient records (n=41; 25.2%), or patient monitoring/data sharing (n=40; 24.5%). Nearly two thirds of the nurses (n=62; 61%) considered they had received sufficient training to use the technology effectively. Nurses rated usability of systems using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and patient monitoring/data sharing systems and electronic prescribing achieved scores above 70, indicating good usability. However, electronic patient records had the lowest System Usability Scale score suggesting these were not found to be as easy to use as other technologies. Recommendations from this work include that nurse leaders and academics also need to consider the digital health technologies training and education needs to ensure an appropriately trained workforce. Furthermore, it is recommended that the international collaborative work continues as this may assist in planning and preparing New Zealand and international nurses for use of digital health now and for future pandemic events.