Information technology for medication administration: assessing bedside readiness among nurses in Lebanon

Abstract

Medication errors continue to be of great concern to hospitals. The use of Information technology (IT) for medication administration was recommended to assist nurses to administer medications safely, decrease the chance of medication errors, and contribute to patient safety. Such IT will be operational soon in some Lebanese hospitals. Users’ readiness and acceptance to use such an IT application is crucial as it is a prerequisite for successful system implementation. This descriptive study used the Technology Acceptance Model to determine the level of nurses' readiness to use IT for medication administration in Lebanon. The sample included nurses working in three different major hospitals in Beirut. Data were collected on nurses’ demographics, attitudes, perceived usefulness and ease of use of IT for medication administration. During the first 2 weeks of July, 2007, nurses manually or electronically were asked to voluntarily complete the questionnaire. Results showed that the users’ attitude towards the use of the proposed IT is correlated with their perceptions on system usefulness and ease of use. Many showed a positive attitude towards system use and scored high on both perceptions. Yet around 20% of the nurses in the sample showed a negative attitude towards the use of the proposed system.