Provider of information and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry Wolters Kluwer Health unveiled results of a new survey that looks at the mobile device, Internet, and social media usage habits of nurse practitioners. According to their findings, nurses are increasingly tech-savvy, with 65% of them saying they currently use a mobile device for professional purposes at work. Moreover, 95% of healthcare organizations allow nurses to consult websites and other online resources for clinical information at work, while 83% of nurses perceive that their organization’s policy allows patient care staff access to general health information that will help them with patient conditions.

95% of healthcare organizations allow nurses to consult websites and other online resources for clinical information at work.Another interesting finding reveals that 65% of nurses are using mobile devices for professional purposes at work at least 30 minutes per day, while 20% use them for two hours or more. Also notable, these same results indicated that the vast majority of organizations strictly prohibit actual interaction with patients through the technology.

“Although these findings may not reflect the actual policies of these institutions, what’s interesting are the perceptions of the nurses who work there, and what we learned is that nurses are frequently incorporating the use of mobile devices, online resources and, to some extent, social media into their daily workflow,” said Judith McCann, Chief Nurse, Lippincott Solutions, Wolters Kluwer Health, Professional & Education.

According to McCann, even hospitals that had strict policies against mobile device use are finding that they can offer enormous benefits when they provide access to secure, trusted content.

89% of healthcare organizations allow nurses to use online search engines at work.A few more highlights of the survey and the nurses’ perceptions include:

• 89% of healthcare organizations allow nurses to use online search engines at work
• 60% of respondents say they use social media to follow healthcare issues at work and 86% say they follow healthcare issues on social media outside of work
• Roughly one-half of the respondents say their organization blocks access on company networks to social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube
• Within the 95% who say they access health information at work, 48% of respondents say their healthcare institutions encourage nurses to access online resources; 41% allow for occasional use; and 5% only as a last resort
• Among those who use mobile devices at work, Nurse Managers are more likely (77%) to use them than Staff Nurses (58%)

Finally, nurses are also using mobile devices as a preferred means to access trusted drug information. McCann noted that more than 445,000 clinicians downloaded the popular Nursing Drug Handbook Apps since they first launched in 2012.

This latest survey was sponsored by the Lippincott Solutions product team within Wolters Kluwer Health. The results are published at LippincottMobile.com.