Attitudes of nurses towards clinical information systems: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the attitudes of Iranian nurses towards clinical information systems in nursing practice. Background Nurses are essential in the successful adoption and implementation of clinical information systems. Methods A systematic search was performed in Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science and Farsi databases, to retrieve relevant studies. The methodological quality of the studies is assessed via the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies. The random effect model was utilized to analyse the data due to the high heterogeneity in the included studies (n = 17). Results Results indicate that clinical information systems impact on at least seven aspects of nursing practice, including documentation, patient safety, quality of treatment, communication, treatment management, nursing tasks and hospital resource management. Results also indicated that one aspect of using clinical information systems in nursing practice is satisfaction with the 'quality and design of clinical information systems', such as ease of use and learning, flexibility and software speed. Conclusion Clinical information systems can contribute to different aspects of nursing practice. However, their design should improve significantly in order to help nurses perform their professional activities in an efficient and satisfactory manner. Implications for Nursing Policy Before the full deployment of clinical information systems, their usability should be tested. In pilot testing, nurses should provide necessary feedback about how well the systems work and improvements needed to meet their professional goals.