Abstract/Summary

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are an important emergmg aspect of health information technology in Saudi Arabia where benefits and opportunities of ongoing investment in this area to strengthen the health provision in Saudi Arabia, are balanced by the threats and exposure of weaknesses in the system if implementation ofEMR is not successfully achieved. Nurses are an important group of staff within any hospital and their involvement is key to successful introduction of EMR. However, to date, few studies have focussed exclusively on the perceptions of nurses to EMR and even fewer studies with regards to nurses in Saudi Arabia. The main aim of this PhD has been to investigate the perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes of nurses in Riyadh and leddah City toward the use of electronic medical records. The research was undertaken using a mixed methods approach, comprising two largely quantitative studies, the Pilot (n=230) conducted in a single institution, and the Main study (n= 1427) distributed to nurses at all levels of their careers in private and public hospitals in Riyadh and leddah City; and a smaller qualitative study consisting of interviews and focus groups undertaken with staff in Riyadh and leddah hospitals to explore further specific issues. The study found that factors such as age, gender, nationality, education, and especially prior experience with EMR and confidence with the use of technology playa significant role in defining nurses' attitudes towards EMR. From these findings the study makes recommendations for areas that should be considered further as part of the introduction strategy of EMR in hospitals in Riyadh and leddah City to improve positivity about EMR and hence facilitate successful implementation, uptake and use. The study also considered how well current Technology Acceptance Models (TAM) can be used to describe the uptake of EMR by nurses in Saudi hospitals resulting in an adaptation to the TAM to form the Nurses Acceptance Model (NAM).