Registered nurses’ perspectives towards use of technology on nursing workload in rural and northern communities

Background: Technology has an important role in health delivery. One of the uses of technology in the healthcare field is to reduce Registered Nurses’ (RNs) workload. Reducing RNs’ workload can increase health delivery efficiency. Objective: To find out RNs’ perspectives towards the use of technology, including the Steadiwear glove, on their workload in rural and northern communities. Methods: A literature review was conducted, guided by a scoping review methodology and 35 articles were included. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven RNs who shared their perspectives towards technology use on their workload. Thematic analysis and an inductive approach guided by Creswell and Creswell, (2018) was undertaken. Results: Two main themes and six subthemes about the effects of technology use on RNs’ workload were found. The results revealed some technologies like the Steadiwear glove have the potential to decrease RNs’ workload by increasing the independence of persons' living with Essential Tremor (ET) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Further, the results demonstrated participants’ perspectives towards five technology categories including, Information and Communication technologies, E-communication, E-learning, mHealth, and Assistive devices. Elearning was the technology most commonly described by the participants and mHealth use was described the least. Factors such as decision-making based on urban setting, technology resources, and suitable training and support for using technology may affect RNs’ workload. Conclusion: Different types of technology may affect RNs’ workload depending on factors such as nurses’ acceptance, patients’ acceptance, educating users, healthcare setting (urban or rural), and technology support.