Nurses resisting information technology

Abstract

Resistance in the workplace, by nurses, has not been extensively studied from a sociological perspective. In this paper, nurses' resistance to the implementation and use of computer systems is described and analysed, on the basis of semistructured interviews with 31 nurses in three UK NHS hospitals. While the resistance was not "successful", in that it did not prevent the implementation of the systems, it nonetheless persisted. Resistance took a wide variety of forms, including attempts to minimise or "put off" use of the systems, and extensive criticism of the systems, though outright refusal to use them was very rare. Resistance was as much about the ideas and ways of working that the systems embodied as it was about the actual technology being used. The patterns of resistance can best be summed up by the phrase "resistive compliance".

Analysis of health professional security behaviors in a real clinical setting: An empirical study

“…There seems to be a tradeoff dilemma between maintaining patient privacy and sharing information easily in order to promote better patient care. Clinicians may feel skeptical about the security implementations owing to the workload associated with health privacy legal frameworks and technology adoption in practice settings [85]. Time-demanding healthcare assistance leads time-poor clinicians to share passwords with unqualified staff or nurses to collude with student nurses in practice over access controls, to transcribe hand written records into computers [23,85].…”

Standardization of Work: Co-constructed Practice

“…As with the ICD for physicians, the classification systems embedded in the nursing plan are tailored to nurses' work. Nursing care plans have gained widespread international attention recently, especially with the implementation of electronic patient records (EPRs) in hospitals (Lee, 2005;Lee et al, 2002;Timmons, 2003;Getty et al, 1999;Lee & Chang, 2004 (Hyun & Park, 2002, p. 100)). The ICNP covers the whole range of diagnoses, interventions and outcomes (Hellesø & Ruland, 2001).…”

Jabberwocky: The Nonsense of Clinician eHealth Security

“…As with other studies, Timmons' UK data indicates collusion over unique passwords does occur in clinical settings, despite the threat of legal sanction [17]. This probably happens because, as the US work by Lending & Dillon argues, many clinicians do not comprehend the importance of eHealth system P&S [18].…”