Nursing Informatics

Rationale of the Study Computers are so inevitable; they have changed the way we do business and learn. In fact, modern-day dwellers would be lost in track of time and schedule as these are completely executed by the computers. Truly, computers are marvelous creations, which make our lives easier particularly in the complex medical field applications. The advances of information and communications technology (ICT) led to its wide applications to clinical practices which include physicians order system and electronic medical records (Hwang and Park, 2011). Nurses do not need to be computer experts to access such systems. However, it is deemed necessary for them to be ICT competent to be more efficient in performing their roles. According to

It is an advancing discipline with a combination of data, information and knowledge. Nursing informatics encompasses the devices, machines, resources, and methods of utilizing information, computers, and nursing science in nursing. It is a recognized specialty for registered nurses, but present challenges that academics and medical practitioners are working to improve or eliminate. However, it was observed that nursing documentation is complex and situation-dependent. With different technology and medical charting methods in use, consistent education and training on documentation is difficult to achieve, especially electronically. The students enrolled in nursing informatics do not have the appropriate knowledge and skills in operating basic computer applications. Hence, many of them are not confident in operating IT-driven medical devices during their related learning experiences or duties in the hospitals.

The researcher is challenged on the impact brought about by the developments in technology particularly on the nursing informatics. Ideally, the researcher believes that all nurses must learn a universal IT platform for all patients. The researcher seeks to measure the level of competence and attitude of the nursing students towards ICT. This will help the researcher find out whether the nursing students are ready to face the challenges using

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

The theory of reasoned action is a model for the prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The components of TRA are three general constructs: behavioral intention, attitude, and subjective norm. TRA suggests that a person 's behavioral intention depends on the person 's attitude about the behavior and subjective norms. If a person intends to do a behavior then it is likely that the person will do it.

Behavioral intention measures a person 's relative strength of intention to perform a behavior. Attitude consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his or her evaluation of these consequences. Subjective norm is seen as a combination of perceived expectations from relevant individuals or groups along with intentions to comply with these expectations. In other words, the person 's perception that most people who are important to him or her think he should or should not perform the behavior in