Need assessment and development of a mobile-based medication dosage calculation application for ICU nurses

Abstract

BackgroundMedication dosage calculation errors are among the most common errors of nurses in intensive care unit (ICU). Information technologies, particularly mobile devices, can advance drug dosage calculation processes. The objective of this study was to develop a medication dosage calculation application for nurses in intensive care units. MethodsThis study was performed in the ICUs of teaching hospitals in Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2018. First, a need assessment survey of nurses was conducted to determine the required features of the application. As well two specialists were interviewed to determine the medications used in the ICUs.Second, a medication dosage calculation application was developed using formative usability testing. ResultsOverall, 80% of the participants (n=120) answered the need assessment questionnaire. Of 29 features determined in the needs assessment, 19 were selected to develop the application. Moreover, 25 medications were selected by specialists and participants for the development of the application and its prototype. The usability test of the prototype found 15 problems. After xing these problems 2 problems were identi ed, which were xed in the nal version. ConclusionAccording to the participants, development of the medication dosage calculation application increases the accuracy of drug dosage and reduces the errors. The user-identi ed features were developed in-app.User-centered usability testing in this study improved development based on needs of users. The method used in this study can be used by developers of health applications to develop applications which are consistent with user needs.

Nurses’ Roles in mHealth App Development: Scoping Review

“…We retrieved 5483 items through database searching, 2492 (45.45%) of which were duplicates, resulting in 2991 (55.55%) items being screened at the title-abstract level. Following the title-abstract screening, 11.03% (330/2991) of the items were reviewed in full text, leading to 4.88% (146/2991) of publications that met the inclusion criteria [ 32 - 176 ]. Hand searching of reference lists identified additional 8.5% (11/130) of publications [ 177 - 187 ], resulting in 2.8% (157/5613) of included publications.…”

“…The characteristics of the included studies are summarized in Table 1 . Of the 157 included publications, 132 (84.1%) either described usability testing or were original research papers [ 32 - 49 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 58 - 65 , 67 - 75 , 77 - 81 , 83 , 85 - 87 , 89 - 107 , 110 , 112 - 117 , 119 - 124 , 126 , 129 , 130 , 132 - 134 , 136 , 138 , 140 - 145 , 147 - 160 , 162 - 169 , 171 - 173 , 175 - 187 ].…”

“…Nurses played a role in all the stages of development. Nurses were most represented in the design and prototyping phase (112/157, 71.3%) [ 32 - 37 , 39 , 41 - 43 , 45 , 46 , 49 , 51 - 53 , 55 - 58 , 60 , 63 - 65 , 67 - 70 , 73 - 79 , 81 , 84 - 88 , 90 - 93 , 96 , 99 - 102 , 104 , 106 , 107 , 110 - 118 , 121 - 129 , 131 - 136 , 138 , 139 , 141 , 142 , 144 - 146 , 148 , 149 , 151 - 153 , 155 , 157 , 158 , 160 - 165 , 167 , 169 , 171 , 173 - 177 , 180 , 182 , 184 - 186 , 188 ], followed by the requirements gathering phase (98/157, 62.4%) [ 32 - 37 , 39 - 41 , 43 ...…”

“…Nurses most frequently assumed the role of evaluator, with 123 (78.3%) of 157 publications indicating that nurses took on this role in at least 1 phase [ 32 - 37 , 39 - 49 , 51 - 53 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 60 - 65 , 67 , 68 , 70 , 72 - 75 , 77 , 79 , 80 , 82 - 88 , 90 - 94 , 96 - 107 , 110 - 123 , 127 - 131 , 133 - 135 , 138 - 143 , 145 - 152 , 155 , 157 - 160 , 162 , 164 , 165 , 167 - 169 , 171 , 172 , 175 - 180 , 182 - 186 ].…”

“…This was followed by the role of informant or SME (106/157, 67.5%) [ 32 - 37 , 39 - 41 , 43 , 46 , 49 , 50 , 52 - 56 , 58 - 61 , 63 , 64 , 67 , 69 , 72 - 75 , 77 , 79 - 81 , 83 - 86 , 89 - 91 , 93 , 95 , 98 , 99 , 102 , 104 , 106 - 110 , 113 , 114 , 116 , 119 , 121 , 123 - 127 , 129 , 132 - 134 , 137 - 139 , 141 , 146 , 148 - 160 , 162 - 171 , 173 - 175 , 177 , 178 , 181 , 182 , 184 - 188 ], designer or creator (31/157, 19.7%) [ 42 , 45 , 56 , 57 , 72 , 78 , 88 , 92 ,…”