Nursing Informatics

Dear Colleagues,

If one phrase could describe how the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has evolved within healthcare delivery, it would be ICT paradigm shift. The role of ICT in healthcare delivery has been increasing since the 1980s to become an essential aspect of health care delivery [1]. Its impetus for use in nursing or midwifery practice is to enhance clinical practice rather than serving administrative or managerial purposes [2]. Its integration into health care delivery is referred to as eHealth or informatics. The World Health Organization published a ‘National eHealth Strategy Toolkit’ [3], reflecting a global drive to improve patient safety, outcomes, healthcare accountability and transparency through the use of ICT. This policy document builds on seminal patient safety documents, such as “To Err is Human” [4] or “Keeping Patients Safe” [5] that point specifically to how integrating technology in healthcare positively affects patient outcomes. Nevertheless, nurses have mixed views about using ICT in patient care delivery. Some nurses worry about losing the human touch [6] while others are more positive [7]. Given that nurses are the largest group of healthcare workers in health settings their current attitudes, knowledge and practices related to ICT and eHealth are of critical interest. In this supplement, nurses and midwives insight into how they use ICT and eHealth within their practice is not perceived in a vacuum but rather within a dynamic ICT paradigm shift.

Dr. Sile A. Creedon
Guest Editor

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Informatics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

References

1. Gürdaş Topkaya, S.; Kaya, N. Nurses' computer literacy and attitudes towards the use of computers in health care. J. Nurs. Pract. 2015, 21, 141–149.
2. Kohn, L.; Corrigan, J; Donaldson, S. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System; National Academy Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2000.
3. Page, A. Keeping Patients Safe: Tranforming the Work Environment of Nurses, Washington, National Academies Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2004.
4. Petit Dit Dariel, O.; Wharrad, H; Windle, R. Exploring the underlying factors influencing e-learning adoption in nurse education. Adv. Nurs. 2013, 69, 1289–1300.
5. Ridgway, L.; Mitchell, C.; Sheean, F. Information and communication technology (ICT) use in child and family nursing: What do we know and where to now? Nurse 2011, 40, 118–129.
6. National eHealth Strategy Toolkit; World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzeland, 2012.
7. Yu, S.; Chen, I.J.; Yang, K.-F.; Wang, T.-F.; Yen, L.-L. A feasibility study on the adoption of e-learning for public health nurse continuing education in Taiwan. Nurse Educat. Today, 2007, 27, 755–761.