Researching nurses' use of digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The adoption of digital technology by nurses accelerated during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, not all nurses were familiar with the various digital systems used in their organisations and there were reports of digital technology not being fit for purpose. This article describes a service evaluation that used an online survey to obtain nurses' feedback on the digital systems used to support patient care during the pandemic. Fifty-five respondents provided details about 85 separate digital systems. The usability of these systems varied significantly across technology types, while barriers to their use included nurses' lack of digital literacy and inadequate access to IT infrastructure. However, most of the nurse respondents felt that digital technology had supported effective patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.