The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of undergraduate nursing students’ social network service addiction tendency, nursing informatics capacity and nursing professionalism on their patient private information protection, and thereby,...
The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of undergraduate nursing students’ social network service addiction tendency, nursing informatics capacity and nursing professionalism on their patient private information protection, and thereby, arrange some educational data for the improvement of their perception of patients’ private information protection in the age of the information society.
For this purpose, the researcher sampled 242 undergraduate junior and senior nursing students who had ever experienced accessing to and collecting patients’ private information during their clinical practice and were using 1 or more SNS.
The data were collected from Oct. to Nov. 2020. The data collected were processed using the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program for real numbers, percentage, means, SDs, T-test, ANOVA, Scheffe’s test, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficients and multiple regression.
The results of this study can be summarized as follows;
1. As a result of analyzing subjects’ demographic variables, it was found that their average age was 23.20±1.28, while the absolute majority of them were females. 93.8% of them had used the SNS for ‘two more years’, while 33.1% of them were using the SNS for 4 or more hours a day. 57.8% of them had ever been educated on the protection of patients’ private information, and 93% of them perceived that it would be necessary to protect patients’ private information.
2. Subjects’ SNS addiction tendency scored 59.36±10.42 on average. Breaking it into its sub-factors, ‘failure of control and hindrance to the ordinary life’ scored 14.20±3.20 on average, while ‘indulgence and tolerance’ scored 21.19±3.86 on average. Moreover, ‘negation and escapism’ scored’ 12.59±2.94 on average, and ‘orientation towards a virtual world and abstinence symptom’ scored 11.38±2.63 on average. The differences depending on subjects’ demographic variables and the experience of the education on patients’ private information education were significant; subjects’ SNS addiction tendency differed significantly depending on gender (t=-2.03, p=.043), hours of use a day (t=-5.59, p<.001), and experience of education (t=2.11, p=.037). Subjects’ SNS addiction was higher in ‘females’ (59.85±10.12) than ‘males’ (55.69±11.98), in ‘the group using the SNS for 4 and more hours’ (64.39±9.10) than their counterparts using it for less than 4 hours (56.88±10.16), and in ‘the group having been educated on protection of patients private information’ (60.61±9.11) than their counterparts’ (57.67±11.81).
3. Subjects’ nursing informatics capacity scored 92.76±11.34 on average. Breaking it down, ‘their computer application skill’ scored 44.89±6.11 on average, while ‘their information application skill’ scored 19.61±2.58 on average, and their knowledge of informatics scored 28.29±4.46 on average. There was found no significant difference between subjects’ demographic variables and their education on protection of patients’ private information.
4. Subjects’ professionalism scored 105.28±12.86 on average. Breaking them down, ‘their self-perception of professionalism’ scored 34.29±4.66 on average, ‘their perceived social recognition’ scored 26.15±4.78 on average, ‘their perceived professionalism’ scored 19.30±2.78 on average, and ‘their perceived role as nursing practitioner’ scored 15.59±2.28 on average. Their perceived ‘identity’ as a nurse’ scored 9.95±2.36 on average. Subjects’ perceived professionalism with regard to patients’ private information protection differed significantly depending on their demographic variables: gender (t=-2.65, p=.003), age (t=2.61, p=.010), hours spent using the SNS per day (t=-2.39, p=.018), experience of being educated (t=3.18, p=.002), and perceived need for education (F=3.36, p=.002). More specifically, subjects’ professionalism scored higher in ‘females’ (106.08±12.54) than ‘males’(99.41±13.90, ‘those aged 22~23’ than ’those older than 24’, those using the SNS for 4 or more hours a day (108.06±12.43) than those using it for less than 4 hours a day (103.91±12.89), ‘those educated on protection of patients’ private information’ (107.50±11.81) than ‘those not educated’ (102.28±13.65), and ‘those who perceived the need for the education’ (106.09±12.44) than those saying ‘I have no idea’ (92.50±18.42).
5. Subjects’ perception of the protection of patients’ private information scored 99.16±9.39 on average. Breaking down, their ‘communication area’ scored 36.27±4.51 on average, and their ‘linked duty area’ scored 13.07±1.79 on average. Their patients’ information management area’ scored 49.82±5.34 on average. Subjects’ perception of patients’ private information protection differed significantly depending on their demographic variables: gender (t=-3.55, p<.001), period of using the SNS (t=-5.79, p<.001), use of SNS per day (t=-2.27, p=.024), experience of education (t=8.13, p<.001), educational media deemed effective (F=5.80, p=.001), and need for education (F=6.72, p=.001). Namely, their professionalism scored higher in ‘females’ (99.93±9.39) than ‘males’ (93.48±7.32), ‘use of SNS for 2 years or longer’ (100.00±8.43) than ‘for less than 2 years’ (86.40±13.53), ‘use of SNS for 4 hours more longer a day’ (101.09±9.41) than ‘for less than 4 years’ (98.20±9.25), ‘experience of education’ (102.91±7.41) than ‘no experience of education’ (94.10±9.43), ‘group education’ (100.64±8.17) or ‘mixed one’ (100.30±8.10) than ‘on-line education’ (93.81±12.94), ‘perception of the need for education’ (99.82±8.89) than ‘no such perception’ (92.00±10.50) or ‘I have no idea’ (92.30±13.46). In addition, as a result of analyzing the differences of the perception of patients’ private information protection depending on the variables, it was found that the period of using the SNS was significantly correlated with the experience of education. (x²=6.19, p=.013). The group who had used the SNS for 2 or more years had more experience of education with regard to patients’ private information protection.
6. As a result of analyzing the correlations among subjects’ SNS addiction tendency, nursing informatics capacity, professionalism and perception of patients’ private information protection, it was found that the significant correlations were found between their professionalism and their nursing informatics capacity (r=.24, p<.001), their perception of patients’ private information protection and their nursing informatics capacity (r=.31, p<.001), and their perception of patients’ private information protection and nursing professionalism (r=.29, p<.001).
7. As a result of the multiple regression analysis of the factors affecting subjects’ perception of patients’ private information protection, it was found that the experience of education was most influential (β=.32, p<.001), followed by 2 or more year use of SNS (β=.23, p<.001), nursing informatics capacity (β=.20, p<.001) and nursing professionalism (β=.12, p=.038) in their order. These factors explained 36.0% of subjects’ perception of patients’ private information protection.
As a result of this study, it was found that undergraduate nursing students’ perception of the patients’ private information would be most affected by their experience of education thereof. Hence, it is deemed necessary to repeatedly educate the undergraduate nursing students not to let them reveal patients’ private information, and help them enhance their nursing informatics capacity and professionalism and thereby, help them cultivate a correct ethical sense of responsibility to protect patients’ private information.