Using a Mobile Application to Promote Patient Education for Patients With Liver Cirrhosis

Patient education and self-management are essential for patients with liver cirrhosis. Based on Fisher and Fisher's Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills model, a Cirrhosis Care App was developed to support the education and self-management of these patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of the application, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with patients having liver cirrhosis who were being followed up in the outpatient area of ​​a medical center in Taiwan. The experimental group used the app for 1 month, whereas a control group continued to receive conventional patient education. A pretest and posttest questionnaire was used to evaluate the app's effectiveness in improving the knowledge and practice of self-care. In addition, a questionnaire was developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model to understand satisfaction with the app. Results showed that following the implementation of the Cirrhosis Care App, patients' self-care knowledge and ability to promote self-care practice improved. User satisfaction with the app was measured and reflected in its frequency of use. This study confirmed that the Cirrhosis Care App, based on the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills model, can improve patient knowledge and self-care practice and be actively promoted to benefit patients with cirrhosis.

Exploring Nurse Use of Digital Nursing Technology

Technological developments and nursing shortages have become global trends. To solve the problem of shortage of healthcare professionals, technology may be used as a backup. Nurses constitute the largest working group in the healthcare system. Therefore, nurses are very important to the success of implementing digitization in hospitals. This cross-sectional study used the characteristics and adoption roles of innovation diffusion theory to understand technology use within the organization. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and open-ended questions from March 21 to May 31, 2022, in two hospitals in Taiwan. In total, 159 nurses agreed to participate in the study. The results of this study revealed that observability, simplicity, advantage, trialability, and compatibility positively improved the acceptance of digital nursing technology. In the distribution of users' innovative roles, early adopters had a significant impact on innovation characteristics and technology acceptance. Nurses in acute and critical care units perceived a greater comparative advantage and trial availability of digital nursing technology use than did those in general wards and outpatient clinics. In addition, based on user opinions and suggestions, the development of smart healthcare and the use of digital technology are expected to improve the quality of nursing care.