Digital Hesitancy Among Nurses and Physicians in Anesthesia and Intensive Care: A Cross-Sectional Study from Romania.

Background and Objectives: Digitalization studies often emphasize perceived benefits while overlooking professionals who cannot determine whether digital tools are useful. This study quantified digital hesitancy among anesthesia and intensive-care professionals, examined its relationship with profes...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Nursing Reports Vol. 16; no. 8; pp. 290 - 311
Autores principales: Vernic, Corina, Bedreag, Ovidiu, Sulițanu, Dorina Cristina, Petre, Ion, Muntean, Liliana Ioana, Ursoniu, Sorin
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: MDPI Aug2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=196616860&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 196616860
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        2039439X
        EGNT
      jtl: Nursing Reports
      issn: 2039439X
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Aug2026
      vid: 16
      iid: 8
      pid: 97109
      pub: MDPI
    artinfo:
      ui:
        196616860
        196616860
        196616860
        10.3390/nursrep16080290
        196616860
      ppf: 290
      ppct: 21
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Digital Hesitancy Among Nurses and Physicians in Anesthesia and Intensive Care: A Cross-Sectional Study from Romania.
      aug:
        au:
          Vernic, Corina
          Bedreag, Ovidiu
          Sulițanu, Dorina Cristina
          Petre, Ion
          Muntean, Liliana Ioana
          Ursoniu, Sorin
        affil: Doctoral School, "Victor Babeș" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timișoara, Eftimie Murgu Square 2, 300041 Timișoara, Romania
      sug:
        subj:
          Anesthesia
          Intensive Care Units
          Critical Care Nurses Psychosocial Factors
          Physicians Psychosocial Factors
          Digital Technology
          Computer Literacy
          Attitude to Computers
          Human
          Romania
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Middle Age
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Analytic Research
          Questionnaires
          Descriptive Statistics
          Multiple Logistic Regression
          Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient
          Confidence Intervals
          Uncertainty
          Job Experience
          Educational Status
          Professional Role
          Nursing Informatics
          Diffusion of Innovation
          Pearson's Correlation Coefficient
          Chi Square Test
          Fisher's Exact Test
          Kruskal-Wallis Test
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Post Hoc Analysis
          McNemar's Test
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background and Objectives: Digitalization studies often emphasize perceived benefits while overlooking professionals who cannot determine whether digital tools are useful. This study quantified digital hesitancy among anesthesia and intensive-care professionals, examined its relationship with professional role and experience, and compared it with reported barriers and technology use. Methods: A single-centre cross-sectional survey included 161 professionals (80.1% of 201 eligible departmental staff): 55 nurses and 106 physicians. A four-item Uncertainty Index measured inability to appraise digital benefits in patient safety, clinical decisions, management, and education. Barrier Burden and Resource-Efficiency indices were also calculated. Group differences were assessed using nonparametric tests, and predictors of high uncertainty were examined by multivariable logistic regression. Results: Nurses had substantially higher uncertainty than physicians (mean Uncertainty Index 1.60 vs. 0.49, difference 1.11, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.42; p < 0.001), particularly regarding educational and clinical benefits. Reported barriers were similar across professional groups, with technical problems being the most common. Any reported prior use of training simulators, irrespective of frequency or recency, was markedly lower among nurses than physicians (1.8% vs. 47.2%; absolute gap 45.4 percentage points, 95% CI 35.2 to 55.5; p < 0.001). After adjustment, physician status remained strongly associated with lower odds of high uncertainty, whereas overall seniority was not significant. In an exploratory within-nurse analysis, uncertainty was higher among more experienced nurses, reaching its highest level among those with more than 20 years of practice (Spearman ρ = 0.49, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.68; p < 0.001); the seniority bands were small (n = 7 to 18), so this gradient is hypothesis-generating. Conclusions: Digital hesitancy was concentrated among nurses and was distinct from shared technical barriers; within nurses it was higher at greater seniority. Because patient-safety outcomes and intervention effects were not measured, targeted simulator-based training and role-specific feedback should be regarded as hypotheses for prospective evaluation alongside, rather than established alternatives to, generic infrastructure improvements.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N