There has been an increase in the use of information technology in the hospital environment over the past decade and the use of computers by Nursing Managers is rapidly increasing. The latter poses a challenge to Nurse Managers, as their computer literacy status is unknown. This is evident from the fact that prior to 1996 there was only four computers at one of the private hospitals used in this study. Computer skills were never a requirement when applying for the position of Nurse Manager; and there is still currently no formal computer training provided for Nurse Managers or Acting Nurse Managers. Resources are however available in the hospitals to assist the managers with various computer problems but it is not known if these resources equip managers with the appropriate tools to become efficient in their role. The lack of formal training and lack of assessment of resources to determine whether the computer needs of Nurse Managers are met results in a lot of time being wasted and many frustrations experienced among Nurse Managers. The researcher was therefore motivated by the latter problem to explore and describe the computer literacy status of Nurse Managers in order to make recommendations to management regarding the research findings. The researcher selected a quantitative, explorative, contextual and descriptive survey design. The research population was made up of all Nurse Managers and Acting Nurse Managers at the time of the study. A 100 percent sample was utilised and comprised thirty-four respondents who made up the entire group of Nurse Managers and Acting Nurse Managers at the time of the study. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used in Phase One of the research and in Phase Two a data observation sheet was used to test the respondents and to collect the necessary data. This data was manually processed and analysed by the iii researcher. All ethical considerations were honoured throughout the research process. The main findings of the research study reflected that the respondents had a below average ability to use various software packages such as Microsoft Word, EXCEL and Power Point. Findings further revealed that the respondent’s literacy levels were average with regard to the use of peripheral components of the computer such as the use of the mouse and keyboard. The respondents rated their competency level as average with regard to using a computer. Due to the limitations and small sample size used in the study the researcher recommends that further research using a larger sample by expanding the research into the other private hospitals in the group through out South Africa should take place in order to produce more constructive results than this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:10035 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Booysen, Mary Kathleen |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | xi, 121 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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