Effects of Mobile Computing on the Quality of Homecare Nursing Practice

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects associated with use of a new mobile technology on the quality of home care provided by the nurses of nine ambulatory care units. The core of the intervention consists of software that optimizes the process used to structure nursing activities taking place in patients´ homes. Several tools were used to collect and triangulate the data: (1) interviews, (2) questionnaires, and (3) nursing notes in patient records. Our results suggest that the use of the mobile solution resulted in more complete nursing notes in the patient records. The fact that information on the patients´ states of health and their medical histories could now be consulted by all the nurses allowed for better client monitoring and more continuous care. According to the patients themselves, the nurses´ use of the software significantly improved the quality of care received. In conclusion, our results show that, much like hospital care, the home care sector can benefit from mobile technologies, particularly in terms of the quality of nursing care provided.