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Factors Influencing Computer Literacy of Taiwan and South Korea Nurses

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Abstract

Healthcare is experiencing a major transformation in its information technology base. Hospitals are adopting information technology (IT) to reduce costs and increase competitiveness. IT applications in healthcare are trending towards electronic patient records and even health records. Therefore, practices in nursing are also affected by IT. Many researchers have studied what computer literacy a nurse should possess, but have focused less on factors that actually impact computer literacy. The purposes of this study are to examine current computer literacy levels of nurses, and to indicate what variables influence their computer literacy. Taiwan and South Korea both implemented a national health insurance system, and used state-of-the art IT to provide higher volume and better quality of services. The data were collected from two case hospitals which are located in Taiwan and South Korea, respectively. By using a structured questionnaire, a total of 203 nurses responded; 104 from Taiwan and 99 from South Korea. The results revealed that personal innovativeness in IT, computer education, and age are significant factors that affected computer literacy levels. These factors serve as reference for administrators and executives in hospitals, or nursing educators seeking the data necessary to make decisions on curriculum.

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Acknowledgments

The researchers would like to thank to Miss I-Zu Huang for her work in data collection, and to thank the respondents to the questionnaire for their generous and whole-hearted contribution to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Management, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Hui-Mei Hsu & I-Chiu Chang

  2. Department of Healthcare Service Management, Mei-Ho Institute of Technology, Ping-Tung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Hui-Mei Hsu

  3. Graduate Institute of Health Care Organization Administration, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China

    Ying-Hui Hou

  4. Department of DSC & MIS, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    David C. Yen

Authors
  1. Hui-Mei Hsu
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  2. Ying-Hui Hou
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  3. I-Chiu Chang
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  4. David C. Yen
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Correspondence to David C. Yen.

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Hsu, HM., Hou, YH., Chang, IC. et al. Factors Influencing Computer Literacy of Taiwan and South Korea Nurses. J Med Syst 33, 133–139 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-008-9173-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-008-9173-5

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