Nurses’ experiences of using a smart mobile device application to assist home care for patients with chronic disease: a qualitative study

Aims and objectives To examine nurses’ experiences regarding the benefits and obstacles of using a smart mobile device application in home care. Background The popularity of mobile phones and Internet technology has established an opportunity for interaction between patients and health care professionals. Line is an application allowing instant communication that is available for free globally. However, the literature relating to use of Line in this area is limited. Design A qualitative study involving individual in‐depth interviews. Methods Participants included community nurses (N = 17) from six home care facilities in southern Taiwan who had used Line for home care of chronically ill patients for at least six months. The study was conducted using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews, which were recorded and converted into transcripts for content analysis. Results Seven themes emerged from data analysis: reduction in medical care consumption and costs, reduction in workload and stress, facilitating improvement in the quality of care, promotion of the nurse–patient relationship, perceived risk, lack of organisational incentives and operating procedures and disturbance to personal life. Conclusions Nurses considered Line valuable for use in home care. While this application has diverse functions, its video transfer function could in particular help nursing staff make prompt decisions about patients’ problems and promote nurse–patient relationships. However, there might be hidden risks including legal consequences, safety risks to patients, possible violations of professionalism and increased risk of nurse burnout. Increasing nursing staff awareness of using mobile messaging software applications is necessary. Relevance to clinical practice This study provides relevant information about the benefits, disadvantages, risks and limitations of nurses’ use of Line. The study also provides suggestions for software programmers and future organisational strategy and development.