Nurses’ Use of iPads in Home Care—What Does It Mean to Patients?

Abstract

Although the use of technology is growing, little is known about how patients perceive technology in the form of tools used by health professionals. The prevailing view in the literature is that technology is cold, compared with the warm hands of nurses, but research regarding nurses’ use of technology such as tablets is scarce. Even scarcer is research on how patients perceive the use of technological tools. This study examines patients’ perspectives on the use of iPads by home care nurses. Semistructured interviews were conducted with seven participants who were receiving home care in Denmark, aged 62 to 90 years, with different backgrounds and experiences with technology. Participants viewed nurses’ use of iPads as an everyday occurrence, reflecting societal growth in the use of technology, and some perceived it as a sign of professionalism with the potential to enhance care. Their perceptions varied somewhat according to their baseline knowledge and experience with the technology. Although nurses may view technology as cold, the findings suggest that patients have a slightly warmer view of it. More patient-centered research into the use of technology in healthcare is needed.

Older persons’ experience of eHealth services in home health care: A meta-ethnography eHealth services in home health care

“…30 The nurse's use of an iPad in the older person's home was experienced as both reassuring and professional. 35…”

Clinicians’ perceptions of usefulness of the PubMed4Hh mobile device application for clinical decision making at the point of care: a pilot study

“…Reliable evidence summaries and validated and expert synthesized resources on smartphone and tablet applications (e.g., UpToDate, DynaMed, or PubMed for Handhelds) can help clinicians’ search for evidence to support the practice of EBM [ 20 ]. Point of care decision support tools provide clinicians with useful information in a timely manner for informing patient care [ 1 ] and improving patient-clinician communication [ 21 – 23 ]. However, research evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of clinical decision support for clinicians other than physicians.…”

DJES nr. 1 - Samlet Tidsskrift

“…På trods af den hastige teknologiske udvikling og enorme samfundsmaessige investering i teknologier i hjemmeplejen, findes der dog begraenset forskning i tablettens indflydelse i arbejdet for de danske hjemmehjaelpere og i det hele taget hjemmeplejen (Martinsen, Mortensen & Norlyk, 2018;Genet et al, 2011). Eksisterende forskning peger derimod på, at vi mangler viden om, hvordan teknologierne forandrer praksis i hjemmeplejen (Lasse, 2017;Vilstrup, Madsen, Hansen & Wind, 2017). Vilstrup et al (2017) har undersøgt, hvordan borgerne opfatter iPad'en som hjemmesygeplejerskernes redskab.…”

“…Eksisterende forskning peger derimod på, at vi mangler viden om, hvordan teknologierne forandrer praksis i hjemmeplejen (Lasse, 2017;Vilstrup, Madsen, Hansen & Wind, 2017). Vilstrup et al (2017) har undersøgt, hvordan borgerne opfatter iPad'en som hjemmesygeplejerskernes redskab. Borgerne har forskellige opfattelser af, hvordan iPad'en anvendes: nogle hjemmesygeplejersker inddrager borgerne i brugen ved at lade dem godkende den registrerede dokumentation, mens andre ikke bruger den i hjemmene.…”