Becoming deprofessionalized: one aspect of the staff nurse's perspective on computer-mediated nursing care plans.

Negative impacts on the professionalization of staff nurses by the development and use of computerized nursing care plans are presented as a selected finding of a qualitative study. A symbolic interaction framework, using nurses' stories as communicated in semi-structured interviews, yielded meaning and behavior in metaphorical form. The computerized system for patient care planning, and the larger system in which it is embedded, contribute to loss of autonomy, loss of individualization of care, and loss of nursing expertise. Some questions that should be addressed now are identified.