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ABSTRACT
Nursing is the noblest of all profession. Nurses should be efficient in providing health care which requires skill in all aspects including computer application in nursing practice. With an aim of this the investigators undertook the study to assess the attitude of the Staff Nurses towards computer application in nursing practice by a standardized scale called P.A.T.C.H. Scale (Pretest for Attitudes Towards Computers in Healthcare). Thirty Staff Nurses working in the Private Hospital, Pondicherry were selected by Non- Probability, Convenient sampling Technique. P.A.T.C.H. Scale was administered to assess their attitude. Differential & inferential Statistics were used to assess their attitude. Study findings shows that 5 % of Staff Nurses had limited awareness, 40% of them had realistic view, 55 % of them had Enthusiastic view and 5 % of them had idealistic view and also 59% of them shown positive attitude, 20% of them had negative attitude and 21% of them had no opinion on computer application in nursing practice. This study shows that though we are in technology world many of the staff nurses have less awareness towards computer application in nursing practice and it can be changed by conducting Inservice education programme.
Keywords: PATCH, Scale (Pretest for Attitudes Towards Computers in Healthcare), Realistic view, Enthusiastic view & Idealistic View
INTRODUCTION
As we are in the computer era, the nursing profession also should go hand in hand with the current change. Computers have entered into each & every part of the world. But it is pathetic to see many of the institutions are still dependent on manual work. Use of computers in the nursing profession will aid in better way that nurses provide Quality care. It saves resources such as men, money, material & time. It will improve the accuracy of the results & promote quality of care which is the primary goal of nursing care. Documentation is very essential part of Nursing Profession. The computers are the one which can influence this effectively. Nursing Informatics is the new emerging field in our profession which will prepare...