Exploratory Survey on the Subjective Meaningfulness of Digitization among Nurses at two Hospitals in Japan

Abstract

This survey aimed to evaluate the subjective meaningfulness of digitization using electronic medical records among Japanese nurses at two hospitals. This was based on a suggestion by students from the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Freiburg, Germany. Data for this cross-sectional, exploratory survey were collected using an anonymous paper-based questionnaire. Participants were clinical nurses aged ≤60 years working in intensive care units or acute wards at Mie University Hospital and Kinan Hospital. After research ethics committee approval, eligible participants received an explanation about the study and were invited to complete the questionnaire. Responses were retrieved in November 2018, and checked and translated into English. Free-text comments were processed using text-mining software (KH Corder®). Seventy-one valid responses were retrieved. The valid response rate was 77% at Mie University Hospital and 84% at Kinan Hospital. Participants showed similar and positive perceptions of digitization (i.e., “To me digitization in my daily work is a good fit”). The selection of reasons for this perception showed similar patterns, although “Physical relief,” was more commonly selected at Mie University Hospital than Kinan Hospital (p=0.001). Participants from the two hospitals also differed in terms of “Other reasons” and corresponding free-text comments. No nurses from Kinan Hospital provided comments, but over one-third of Mie University Hospital participants commented. The relationship analysis of the comments placed “information” at the center, surrounded by “share” and “easy.” This survey showed most nurses perceived positive meaningfulness of digitization in clinical nursing. However, there may be some situation-based differences in meaningfulness.