Exploring nurses’ reactions to electronic nursing documentation at the point of care

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate nurses’ attitudes, perceptions, and reactions to a new point-of-care information system for documenting nursing care. Design/methodology/approach A design science research methodology (DSRM) was used to examine the feasibility and usability of a novel nursing informatics solution in the context of acute hospital care. Data were collected using focus groups and non-participant observations. Analyses were guided by the theoretical lens of actor-network theory (ANT). Findings The findings unpack an understanding of the potential value of a new technology, rather than a binary understanding of positive or negative value. Using the ANT lens, the study reveals the dynamics of the nurse-technology relationships and consequent disruptions throughout the translation process. The findings highlight the central role of negotiation in the socio-technical construction of the hybrid actor-network during the implementation of new technology in acute hospital contexts. Research limitations/implications Further studies are needed to investigate the dynamics and complexity of the translation process that occurs during technology adoption, reactions of the involved actors to the emerging network and impacts on their role and work process. Practical implications Engaging nurses early during development and testing; aligning the new system’s functionality and interface with nurses’ interests and work practices; and supporting changes to clinical work process to enable an effective heterogeneous actor-network to emerge and become stable. Originality/value This study presents a novel use of ANT in a DSRM to understand an enterprise-wide system involving nurses and real clinical settings. The emerged actor-network provides insights into the translation process when nurses adapt to using new technology in their work.