52 Int. J. of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics, 1(1), 52-63, January-March 2006 Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Nurses’ Perceptions of Using a Pocket PC for Shift Reports and Patient Care Karen Chang, Purdue University, USA Kyle D. Lutes, Purdue University, USA Melanie L. Braswell, Purdue University, USA Jacqueline K. Nielsen, Purdue University, USA ABSTRACT Nurses working in hospitals with paper-based systems often face the challenge of inefficiency in providing quality nursing care. Two areas of inefficiency are shift-to-shift communication among nurses and access to information related to patient care. An integrated IT system, consisting of Pocket PCs and a desktop PC interfaced to a hospital’s mainframe system, was developed. The goal was to use mobile IT to give nurses easier access to patient information. This paper describes the development of this system and reports the results of a pilot study: a comparison of time spent in taking and giving shift reports before and after the study and nurses’ perceptions of the mobile IT system. Results showed significant difference in taking shift reports and no significant difference in giving shift reports. Nurses stated that quick and easy access to updated patient information in the Pocket PC was very helpful, especially during mainframe downtime. Keywords: case study; communication; handheld computers; hospital nursing staff; integrated delivery of healthcare; nursing informatics; point-of-care systems; system evaluation; systems integration; user-computer interface; user satisfaction INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The quality of the American healthcare delivery system has been problematic. The In- stitute of Medicine (IOM) (2001) identified six dimensions of quality: safe, effective, patient- centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. How- ever, in hospitals with paper-based delivery systems, nurses often face challenges in meet- ing these expectations. Two areas of ineffi- ciency are communication among nurses and accessing information relevant to patient care. Paper-based shift reports and patient management can be time-consuming. At the IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the publication, International Journal of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics Volume 1, Issue 1 edited by Joseph Tan © 2006, Idea Group Inc. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITJ3057