Factors influencing use of information technology by nurses and midwives

Information technology (IT) is becoming increasingly important as a source of information to guide practice and manage patient care. Nurses and midwives therefore need to be proficient in its use. This paper reports on a cross-sectional survey of factors influencing nurses' and midwives' use of IT in a large hospital in England. A self-completed questionnaire was distributed to 343 nurses and midwives. A response rate of 38% was achieved with 129 questionnaires returned. The majority of practitioners had access to and used computers at work. Practitioners' general IT skills (e.g. e-mail, Internet) were more developed than their skills in using work-related software. The major barriers to using IT in clinical practice related to a lack of time, difficulty accessing computers, and social and cultural considerations whereby there was a perceived lack of peer and managerial support for using IT in the workplace. Strategies need to be developed to ensure that obstacles to nurses and midwives using IT are addressed. In addition to extending the IT skills of nurses and midwives there is an urgent need to develop a culture in which the use of IT becomes the accepted norm in clinical practice. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.