Project – Impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the performance of nurses staff

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is arguably the most rapidly growing segment of the world ecosystem. The development in the sector pervades every human activity social, economic, cultural, religious, political, or health care (Idowu, 2010). The huge networking possibilities afforded by ICT have significantly transformed the health care systems in the world (Myers, 2011). Dispersing health care information with comparative ease, bringing patients closer to care givers, making access to the best health care technology, and expertise available to the remotest corners of the world are few among the benefits of ICT. ICT enables people to interact and communicate no matter the distance, the world which we live in today has been changed by ICT, it has the potential to transform radically the delivery of health care and to assist in defining strategies to address future health problems. However, the rate of deployment of the technologies has been lower in developing countries, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa when compared with developed world. ICT has assisted in driving down costs (Remlex, 2010) and has improved the delivery and effectiveness of healthcare services through help in disease management, improved patient safety, and decision support for practitioners (O’Carroll, 2010).

In Nigeria, most government administrations have promised to address the problem facing the delivery of health care in the country for the past decades. With the attendant opportunities, challenges, and achievements. Yet, it seems there is no significant change in the delivery of health care and this is not far from the fact that the government of Nigeria has failed to fully utilize the opportunity offered by ICT in health care sector. Consider the use of life expectancy as a measure of the state of the effectiveness of the health sector of a nation. According to (World Health Organization [WHO, 2010],) report that was released in the first half of 2010, the life expectancy in Nigeria was noted to have moved from 47 to 49 years (WHO, 2010). When compared to other countries where the life expectancy goes as long as 83 years, and how well they are doing based on life expectancy measures, it can be seen that a lot more remains to be desired in the state of health care and services delivery in Nigeria. Despite Nigeria’s claims to have reorganized its health care delivery system since Bamako’s 1987 initiative, which focused on how to increase access to good health care systems, the government is yet to implement any meaningful ICT policy in the health sector. It is obvious that the regions of the world where the life expectancy of nations are higher also are the ones where the use of ICTs are becoming more effectively mainstreamed in the different areas of national life including the health sector (WHO 2013). It is obvious that there is a significant correlation between the level of the use of ICT in nations and the level of performance in their health sectors. Going by the immense contributions of ICT in developed nations, Nigeria must consider a more effective deployment of ICT in its health delivery system (Odusote, 2010). So there is a serious need for the nation to fully deploy ICT in health sector and quickly tackle some of the challenges facing the proper deployment of ICT in the sector and the nation as a whole.

According to WHO (2010), ICT form the backbone of the services to prevent, diagnose, and treat illness and disease. ICT’s are only one category of the vast array of technologies that may be of use. ICT’s can be powerful tools in the hands of those working to improve health care delivery in Nigeria with technologies such as electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic prescriptions, and MYCIN. According to United Nations Foundations (2014) despite considerable attention the issue receives, much remains unknown about the role of ICT in the health care setting.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Nigeria has the highest population in sub-Saharan Africa with a population of over 180 million people but with inadequate health care delivery system (wordlometers, 2015). Idowu (2010) posit that inadequate health care delivery might give birth to health risk. Some studies have shown that despite the immense benefits of ICTs as a means of delivering quality health care services, the potential of ICTs have not been fully harnessed by health professionals especially in developing countries (Idowu&Conford, 2010). This is due to problems of access (slow or unreliable Internet connectivity), high subscription cost of information materials; lack of awareness of what is available; lack of relevance of available information (i.e. not meeting professionals’ needs in terms of scope, style, or format); lack of time and incentives to access information; and lack of interpretation skills (Gatero, 2011). These enumerated problems may affect the availability, accessibility and use of ICTs by health professionals particularly in developing countries. Furthermore, Idowu (2010) stated that most of the health institutions in developing countries are battling with some identified barriers such as high cost of ICT equipment, power failures, and inadequate telecommunication facilities and attitude of health workers towards the use of ICT, non-availability of ICT equipment hinders health workers from showing serious interest, leading to a widespread apathy towards ICT because of lack of facilities for their use. Except these challenges are promptly attended to, the benefits of ICTs may not be realizable both at the short and long run.

In essence, the myriad of problems in the health sector may not be totally eliminated by merely acquiring these technologies, but harnessing the technologies for development. Such benefits which include improving health workers performance, making better treatment decisions, providing higher quality and safer care, national and local health information systems supporting the development of effective, efficient and equitable health systems, among others can achieve the desired outcomes only if ICTs are available, accessible and used accordingly (Davies, 2013).Some studies have shown the immense benefits of ICTs as a means of delivering quality health care services, and a way improving the performance of health workers but have left a gap in measuring the true impact of ICTs on Health workers performance, the potential of ICTs in improving Health workers performance have not been fully established (Idowu&Conford, 2010).

Therefore, this study will investigate the impact of ICT on the performance of nurses staffin PHCC Nassarawa Jahun Bauchi and make contribution to knowledge.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of ICT on the performance of nurse’s staffs. The specific objectives are;

1. To determine the availability of ICT facilities that improves the performance of nurse’s staff in PHCC NassarawaJahun Bauchi.
2. To identify the level of ICT accessibility on the performance of nurses staff in PHCC NassarawaJahun Bauchi.
3. To examine the use of ICT facilities by nurses staff in PHCC Nassarawa Jahun Bauchi.

1.4       Research Questions

The following research question will guide the study:

1. What are the availability of ICT facilities that improve the Performance ofnurse’s staff in PHCC Nassarawa Jahun Bauchi?
2. What are the level of ICT accessibility on the performance of nurse’s staff in PHCC Nassarawa Jahun Bauchi?
3. How does the use of ICT facilities improve the performance of nurse’s staff in PHCC NassarawaJahun Bauchi?

1.5       Significance of the Study

This study will have great importance to the nurses, government and to my field of study.

To the government it will provide them with the major impact of ICT in medical sector.

To the nurses it will help them to deliver quality healthcare services and also to improve their performance.

To my field of study it will serve as reference material.

1.6       Scope of the Study

This study is limited to the nurse’s staff within PHCC Nassarawa Jahun Bauchi. The study is timed to be completed in two semester of an academic session.

1.7      Limitation of the Study

Although the research has reached its aims, there were some unavoidable limitations, because of the time limit; this research was conducted only on a small size of population who were working in PHCC Nassarawa jahun Bauchi.

1.8       Definition of Terms

Medical, Health and Healthcare Informatics: These terms first appeared in the 1960s, and refer to knowledge, skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of healthcare and to promote health (NHS, 2011).

Medical Technologies: A simple definition, produced by WHO (2010) is that health technologies are solutions to health problems. They are essential a tool, device or procedure used in health care.

E-health: E-health is the use of emerging information and communication technology, especially the internet, to improve or enable health and healthcare. This term bridges both theclinical and non-clinical sectors and includes equally individual and population health-oriented tools.

Project – Impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the performance of nurses staff