Date of Award/Publication
8-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Advanced Practice Nursing
First Supervisor
Tara Sacco
Abstract
Introduction: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a progressive and disabling illness with high healthcare utilization costs. Due to its complexity and the large number of patients diagnosed with CHF, telemedicine has been increasingly incorporated as part of CHF management. Many studies support its benefits in improving patient outcomes and its practicality to be used in the home care setting. However, more research is needed to investigate home care nurses’ perceptions of telemedicine and how those perceptions affect its implementation.
Objectives: To explore home care nurses’ perceptions of telemedicine and how these perceptions could affect how telemedicine is implemented in home-care.
Methods: The current study used a quantitative descriptive design, 40 home care nurses from a home healthcare agency in Western New York participated. Data was collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and later analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS 24)
Results: Home care nurses have an average to high level of knowledge of telemedicine (77%) but most of them reported lack of telemedicine education (87%). Significant differences were found between the nurses’ level of education and familiarity with telemedicine (F = 7.510; p = .002) and familiarity with telemedicine guidelines (F=5.03; p=.012).
Conclusion: Most participants reported positive perceptions of telemedicine. Home care nurses’ familiarity of telemedicine is affected by their level of education. Findings indicate that further implementation of telemedicine training is important to increase home care nurses’ awareness of telemedicine. Further, home care agencies should consider encouraging their staff to further their nursing education as this may lead to stronger support for the use of telemedicine.
Recommended Citation
Puckett, Carla, "Home Care Nurses' Perceptions of Telemedicine" (2017). Nursing Masters. Paper 47.
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/nursing_etd_masters/47
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.