Attitudes of nurses towards End-user Development.

The purpose of this study is to explore nurses' attitudes toward developing self-made information tools. In order to understand nurses' attitudes, we studied the factors that affect nurses' attitudes toward End-user Development (EUD). The investigation of nurses in Taiwan hospitals showed that nurses had positive attitudes toward EUD. A framework of nurses' attitudes toward EUD is presented. A gap was found between the functions provided by the nursing information system and self-assessment required by the job. The nurses were inclined to be dissatisfied with support provided by the information centers. Nursing managers were advised to enhance on-the-job training for computer applications, and to include computer competencies in the nursing ladders program. The results indicated that nurses were willing to develop their own tools. We believe that nurses with computer application skills who are provided with appropriate tools can become nursing application developers. The results encourage nurses to develop software by themselves. Further research and development is required to enhance the impact of EUD and establish a sharing environment for EUD applications.