Nursing Officers Attitudes Toward the implementation of Hospital Health Information Management System in Hospitals in Kalmunai RDHS

Abstract

Background: Transition from paper-based health record systems to comprehensive electronic Hospital Health Information Management System is viewed as a means to improve both the quality of patient care and professional factors related to end-users.Objective: To Evaluate the attitudes and concerns towards implementation of electronic record system among Nursing Officers.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at RDHS Kalmunai among 95 nursing officers attached to four Base hospitals from October to November 2023. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data related to demography and attitudes of nursing officers. Study analysis was performed using mean and percentages, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s test.Results: 70.5% of the nurses were female and 47.8% of them were >39 years old. All had previous computer exposure and 67.45% of them had 1-2 years electronic system experience. Nurses attitude towards electronic health record system was positive (mean score 62.28, SD=8.79). Majority of nurses agreed that computer has allowed them to become more efficient (73.5%) and reduced paper-based work (54.3%). They disagreed that computer has caused them to decrease interdepartmental communication (58.8%).Nurses perceived that computer usage may cause more legal implications (74.9%), increased healthcare cost (65.2%), increased waiting time of patient and caused less satisfaction to patients (60.8%) and more work load (54.3%). No statistical significant co relation between nurses attitude score and demographic variables (p= > 0.05).Conclusions: Nurses exhibited a positive disposition towards computer-based documentation. As it was an implementing stage frequent awareness programmes might prevent potential misunderstandings and enhance adoptability. Additionally, continuous refresher training program could be suggested to improve speed and proficiency.