Sociotechnical Challenges of Digital Health in Nursing Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: National Study

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of digital health innovations, which has greatly impacted nursing practice. However, little is known about the use of digital health services by nurses and how this has changed during the pandemic.

Objective

This study explored the sociotechnical challenges that nurses encountered in using digital health services implemented during the pandemic and, accordingly, what digital health capabilities they expect from the emerging workforce.

Methods

Five groups of nurses, including chief nursing information officers, nurses, clinical educators, nurse representatives at digital health vendor companies, and nurse representatives in government bodies across Australia were interviewed. They were asked about their experience of digital health during the pandemic, their sociotechnical challenges, and their expectations of the digital health capabilities of emerging nurses to overcome these challenges. Interviews were deductively analyzed based on 8 sociotechnical themes, including technical challenges, nurse-technology interaction, clinical content management, training and human resources, communication and workflow, internal policies and guidelines, external factors, and effectiveness assessment of digital health for postpandemic use.

Results

Sixteen participants were interviewed. Human factors and clinical workflow challenges were highly mentioned. Nurses’ lack of knowledge and involvement in digital health implementation and evaluation led to inefficient use of these technologies during the pandemic. They expected the emerging workforce to be digitally literate and actively engaged in digital health interventions beyond documentation, such as data analytics and decision-making.

Conclusions

Nurses should be involved in digital health interventions to efficiently use these technologies and provide safe and quality care. Collaborative efforts among policy makers, vendors, and clinical and academic industries can leverage digital health capabilities in the nursing workforce.