Evaluation of knowledge and attitude of nurses of Amir Al-Momenin Hospital in Zabol towards telemedicine

With the introduction of new technologies in various fields, including medicine, changes have been made known as telemedicine; this technology can significantly increase the quality of medical and health services. Therefore, it is necessary to review the requirements for its use and acceptance by the end-user. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of Amir Al-Momenin Hospital nurses in Zabol towards telemedicine in 1997- 96.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 100 nurses of Amir Al-Momenin Hospital in Zabol in 1996-97. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire had three sections. The first part included demographic information. The second part included 8 questions in the field of awareness of the benefits of telemedicine. The third part included questions related to nurses' attitudes toward the applications and barriers of telemedicine. The questions in each section were evaluated based on the Likert scale. Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyze the results using SPSS software. Results: The results showed that 72% of the study group were female and had a bachelor's degree (82%). 72% of nurses believed that using this technology would lead to a separation between the nurse and the patient. 66% of nurses admitted that they know how to use technology in the hospital. 56.7% of the nurses stated that one of the most critical obstacles to using this technology was the lack of a robust network in this hospital. Conclusion: This study showed that in order to use this technology more effectively, human readiness should be provided through training courses. Then the necessary technical infrastructure to use this technology will be improved.