Knowledge Transfer Through Mobile Application Needs: A Survey of Nurses as End Users

Abstract

Dissemination of evidence through a mobile application in the nursing area is a promising area of development. The effectiveness of this method of knowledge transfer encourages the development of a user-friendly mobile application responding to the needs of the nurses. However, nurses’ needs have yet to be identified. This study aims to understand the needs for knowledge transfer through the mobile application of nurses. An online survey was conducted at two public and private hospitals in Depok City in August and September 2019. A questionnaire with four items of needs assessment and 12 items of application features importance was completed by 110 nurses. Descriptive analysis showed the majority of nurses reported the need for best evidence with an average of 5.41 for research summary, 5.49 for systematic review, 5.87 for clinical guidelines, and need for knowledge transfer through mobile application with an average of 5.65 on 7 ranged Likert scale. Most nurses rated 11 out of 12 features are important with a score of more than four out of five on the Likert scale. The highest mean is the feature search with keywords (4.68±0.06) and the lowest in the quiz/games feature (3.82±0.10). The study noted that knowledge transfer through a mobile application is needed by nurses. Future design of the mobile application based on the needs of nurses as end-users is feasible.   Keywords: evidence-based practice, evidence-based nursing, knowledge translation, mobile applications, need analysis