Development and Validation of Information Technology Scale in Nursing

Abstract

Background The implementation of information technology (IT) in patient care is on the rise. The nursing workforce should be prepared for using such technology to support the delivery of patient-centered care. The integration of informatics into nursing practice has been progressing at a slower rate than the development of advancements and in which areas nurses use IT is still not clear.

Objective Our objective was to develop a new instrument to determine the usage of IT in nursing practice.

Methods A methodological study was conducted with factor analyses. A total of 498 registered nurses in a university hospital (n = 374) and primary care centers (n = 124) participated in the study. A questionnaire consisting demographic characteristics and an item pool with 50 statements were used to collect data. The validity and reliability of the instrument were statistically tested by computing the Keiser–Meier–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests, an exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, Cronbach's α, and a confirmatory factor analysis.

Results The instrument extracted eight factors comprising 39 items that explained 55% of the variance: professional autonomy(α = 0.82), data sharing/communication(α = 0.80), data management (α = 0.79), professional development (α = 0.71), administration (α = 0.76), research (α = 0.76), informing (α = 0.68), and classification of interventions (α = 0.75). Total reliability was 0.936. KMO index and a measure of sampling adequacy were high (0.936); the Bartlett test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.005).

Conclusion Study provided the evidence for the factor structure, internal consistency, reliability, and responsiveness of the 39-item “The Information Technology Scale in Nursing.” Further testing of the developed instrument with a larger number of nurses from various backgrounds and different settings is recommended.

Keywords

information - technology - nursing - scale

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Ataturk University on March 4, 2021 (Prot. No.2021/41). Considering the methodological design of the study, which was based on participants' answers, collection of informed consent was required and was obtained.

Implications of Results for Practitioners and/or Consumers

The existing scale is a guide for identifying utilization areas of IT among nurses. The benefits of IT are increasing its prevalence in the world. Indeed, our findings highlight the importance of such technology, which provides access to up-to-date and safe information in both health care in general and the nursing profession specifically. With the findings of our paper, it could be possible for researchers to study this phenomenon with various samples of nurses.

We declare that we received support from The Centre of Individual Research Project in Ataturk University to carry out any financial support or funding for our research.

Authors' Contributions

The study design was done by E.S. and E.Y. E.S. helped in Data collection. E.S. and E.Y also contributed in data analysis, study supervision, manuscript writing and critical revisions for important intellectual content.

Ethical Approval Statement

Informed consent forms of the nurses, permission from the hospital and provincial health department, and ethics committee approval (4.03.2021-2021/41) from the Ethical Committee of Ataturk University Medical Faculty were obtained.

The participants who volunteered to participate in the study were informed about the subject and purpose of the study and their informed consent was obtained.

Publication History

Received: 10 September 2023

Accepted: 01 February 2024

Article published online:
20 March 2024

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