Nursing professionals' experiences of the facilitators and barriers to the use of telehealth applications: a systematic review of qualitative studies

Abstract

The aim of the study was to synthesise the best available research evidence on nursing professionals' experiences of the facilitators and barriers to the use of online telehealth services in nursing practice. Telehealth is used to deliver healthcare services and health-related information by means of information and communication technology (ICT). The systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted using thematic synthesis of previous studies. International electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, Eric, Web of Science/Web of Knowledge and Scopus, and Finnish databases Medic and Ohtanen were searched in spring 2013. In addition, the search was complemented in fall 2015. Following critical appraisal, 25 studies from 1998 to fall 2015 were reviewed and the findings were synthesised. Both facilitators and barriers were grouped into five main categories which were related to nurses' skills and attitudes, nurses' work and operations, organisational factors, patients and technology. The highest number of facilitators and barriers was found in the category focusing on nurses' work and operations. Based on the findings, nurses' skills and attitudes are preventing factors in the implementation of telehealth. There is also a need to focus on patients' role in telehealth usage although the findings support positive adoption of ICT tools among patients. The findings call for further development of technological tools used in nursing practice and healthcare services. The change from traditional face-to-face nursing to the use of telehealth calls for local agreements and further discussions among professionals on how this change will be accepted and implemented into practice. In addition, organisations need to make sure that nurses have enough resources and support for telehealth use.

Telephone nurses’ use of a decision support system: An observational study

“…Murdoch et al () described the same situation. As stated by Koivunen and Saranto (), there is a need for the development of technological tools used in nursing practice. TN need to take part in such development to ensure that new technology is designed for their complex clinical reality.…”

“…Active failures often occur due to insufficiency in the latent conditions (Reason, , ). A recent review by Koivunen and Saranto () concluded that healthcare organizations must assure that TN have enough support and resources and that there is a need for the development of technological tools in healthcare services.…”

Nurses' experiences and viewpoints about the benefits of adopting information technology in health care: A qualitative study

“…Researchers concluded that managers had to refine policies to reflect benefits of IT in nursing practice. Further research also should be conducted to confirm patterns of nurses' adoption to IT in different contexts [2,15,16].…”

Evaluation of nurse’s performance in telemedicine

“…With the new resources implanted in the health practice, the need for updating and qualification by the nurses to act and to provide a quality assistance is notorious. In addition to integrating health actions with the use of telehealth services, culminating in new and valuable technological alternatives that can overcome cultural, socioeconomic and geographical barriers (11) .…”

“…This consists of the transmission of cardiovascular parameters, examinations and/or clinical data of patients through the internet and technological tools. In the last ten years, revolutionary progress in telecardiology has been made through the association of ICT, including cell phones and cloud archiving (9)(10)(11) .…”