Premium
Decision aid software programs in telenursing: not used as intended? Experiences of Swedish telenurses
Author(s) -
Holmström Inger
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2007.00299.x
Subject(s) - triage , medical education , decision support system , perspective (graphical) , software , qualitative research , advice (programming) , psychology , nursing , medicine , computer science , medical emergency , artificial intelligence , sociology , social science , programming language
Abstract Telenurses at call centers use decision aid software programs to offer triage recommendations and self‐care advice to the general public. Decision aid programs are intended to support medical safety but were suggested by telenurses to be a hindrance to the dialogue. The aim of this study was to explore the use of decision aid software programs for telenursing, from the perspective of the users. A qualitative, descriptive approach was used. Twelve telenurses in Sweden were interviewed twice. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Four themes were found: support for assessment but not for the decision; inconsistency between actual practice and the decision aid software; limited support for learning and information; and communication challenges and software programs. The software programs were a support for assessment, rather than decision‐making, assuring the nurses that the relevant questions were asked. They were not fully adapted to current clinical practice, focusing mainly on acute conditions. Nurses worked to a large extent with self‐care advice, often over‐riding the recommendations made.