Nursing and eHealth: facing the challenges of the UK health service modernization agenda

Across the United Kingdom (UK) large sums of money are being spent on healthcare modernisation programmes, which seek to embed Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) within clinical settings. On-line surveys carried out by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in the last few years (2004-7) have demonstrated that the majority of nurses, midwives and health visitors welcome the idea of working in modern settings where ICT supports effective and efficient care. However, results also highlight concerns, held by many of the participants (N= >6000), that nursing visibility within a technology enabled care environment is at risk. It is argued that unless there is an appropriate nursing content within new clinical ICT systems, the contribution of nursing to health gains and care outcomes will be undermined. The presentation will elaborate on the similarities and differences found, through analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, amongst nurses in England, Scotland and Wales. It will focus on key findings regarding eHealth perceptions, staff readiness and possible impact of ICT on nursing practice. Specific attention will be given to current efforts to ‘mainstream informatics’ thus enabling it to become a core element within the UK nursing education curricula. The RCN vision is seeing nurses reaching for e-Tools (on-line reference, mouse, etc) as readily as they reach for the pen, reference book or telephone. We argue, however, that the key to progress with this vision is having the right skills, knowledge and attitudes to effectively manage clinical information in support of evidence based practice. The presentation will conclude by calling researchers and institutions to help in articulating the unique nursing evidence and ensure that nursing is setting its own eHealth future.