Increasingly, nurse practitioners use and rely on mobile devices, social media and online references for professional purposes, according to the results of a Wolters Kluwer Health survey analysis released earlier this week. Almost two-thirds, 65 percent of the nurses surveyed, said they use a mobile device for work.
Wolters Kluwer Health, a global provider of healthcare industry information and point-of care solutions, also found that, increasingly, healthcare institutions condone nurses using digital devices and consulting websites and online resources in the workplace. In fact, the study found 95 percent of healthcare organizations now permit nurses to use the Internet to find online resources for clinical information.
Wolters Kluwer Health analyzed data from a Lippincott Solutions survey of more than 5,000 nurses. Of the nurses who responded:
- 65 percent of respondents said they use a mobile device for at least 30 minutes per shift.
- 20 percent said they use a mobile device for upwards of two hours a day.
- 73 percent claimed their organization's policies strictly prohibit direct patient care staff to interact with patients via social media.
- 89 percent said their healthcare organizations allow nurses to use online search engines at work.
- 83 percent of nurses surveyed claimed they are allowed to access public websites and social media to find general health information on patient conditions.
- Approximately half of the respondents said their organization blocks access on company networks to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.
- 60 percent said they use social media to follow healthcare issues at work and 86 percent said they follow healthcare issues on social media outside of work.
- Within the 95 percent of respondents who said they access health information at work, 48 percent of respondents claimed their healthcare institutions encourage nurses to access online resources; 41 percent allow for occasional use; and 5 percent only as a last resort.
- Among those who use mobile devices at work, nurse managers, at 77 percent, are more likely to use them than staff nurses, at 58 percent.