Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess RNs' internet use for seeking health-related information, and their attitudes towards doing so. The current study also aimed to assess RNs’ evaluation of the internet HRI.
Method: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design was utilized. A convenient sample of 300 Jordanian RNs participated in the current study. Participants were recruited from different public, private and university hospitals in 6 Jordanian Governorates, using a structured self-reported questionnaire.
Results: The results revealed that 74.0% of the study’s participants used the Internet for seeking health-related information, while 9.7% did not use the Internet at all. Of the internet-using RNs, 95.7% held positive attitudes towards using the internet for seeking health-related information.
Among the Internet-using RNs, only 36.3% thought that, in general, most of the information they found on the Web was credible. While, about 61.5% thought that only some of the Internet HRI was credible. The criteria which nurses relied on to evaluate the retrieved HRI varied. Criteria included checking the author (50%), websites’ last date of update (50%), affiliation from a well-known organization (28.2%), availability of citations (1 participant). Some RNs evaluated the retrieved information based on their knowledge (20.5%) and area of practice (31.6%). Google ranked the first among the websites used to retrieve HRI with 44.6% of nurses, while online databases were used by less than 10% of RNs. Evidently, fewer RNs were aware of specific criteria for evaluating the internet HRI.
Conclusion: Jordanian RNs are in need of further coaching and training regarding evaluation criteria of Internet HRI. Improving nurses' computer and Internet capabilities can be achieved by integrating the roles, and the collaboration of administrators, researchers, and educators/trainers. The findings of the current study can be used as the basis for future studies in the field of Nursing Informatics, especially in Jordan.