The view of nurses about computerization in daily nursing practice

Computerization of health information applies technological resources in various areas of assistance and care and acts in the storage, processing, analysis and transmission of information so as to allow the solution of problems in the care context. This study aimed to know the nurses' view of computerization in the daily nursing practice in the municipality of Imperatriz-MA to identify the sociodemographic profile of the research participants. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, conducted in the Northeast of Brazil, in the municipality of Imperatriz, state of Maranhão. The study was carried out from April to June of 2019 in six hospitals in the city of Imperatriz, the second largest city in the state, and a reference in health care in the region. Ninety-eight nurses chosen based on the accessibility criterion participated in the survey. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire to nurses from hospitals and Basic Health Units, who were approached in their workplaces. The results showed that the predominant age group was 31 to 40 years, and most participants (60.2%) worked in the public network. Among the participants, 94.9% said that computerization facilitates nursing care, 97.0% said that it benefits patient data documentation, and 98.0% said that computerization facilitates communication and decision making in nursing. Computerization of health information in several sectors is of fundamental importance for the full functioning of the care process.