Understanding Health Information Needs, Sources and Barriers to Accessing Information among Professional Nurses in the Western Cape

Abstract

Introduction: Access to the best available scientific evidence-based health information enables healthcare professionals (HCPs) to make sound decisions when providing healthcare. However, barriers exist to meeting the information needs of HCPs, such as lack of time, lack of knowledge and skills, and lack of resources. Aim: This study aimed to understand the health information needs, sources and barriers to accessing information among professional nurses in the Western Cape. Methods: An exploratory and descriptive qualitative research design was utilised. Seventeen (N=17) professional nurses were selected from primary healthcare facilities in the Cape Town Metropole of the Western Cape, South Africa, using purposive sampling. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using a six-step method of qualitative data analysis. Findings: Three themes and eight subthemes emerged from the data, the three main themes being meeting the information needs of professional nurses, information sources and sharing of patient information, and barriers to accessing information. The findings revealed that professional nurses require daily health information about the diagnosis of patients. Sources of information used were electronic, print and colleagues. Despite the availability of computers in most facilities, most participants used printed media as a source of information. Barriers to the use of electronic sources were personal such as skills, and organisational factors (access to technology, time and workload). Conclusions: The study recommends providing in-service training on digital health for all professional nurses, including how to search for evidence-based information from health databases. Nursing informatics could be incorporated into all nursing training curricula. All primary healthcare facilities should provide nurses with access to computer technology and have free Wi-Fi for accessing applications. Patient health information pamphlets should be made available to all facilities and be printed in the most common language used in the geographical area.