Challenges of Mobile Clinical System Design: What do Nurses Think?

Mobile clinical systems hold great potential for facilitating nursing documentation and communication activities. In this paper, we explore the possibilities of evaluating a mobile clinical system prototype by nurses in the early system design stage. Nurses' concerns and perceptions regarding the mobile system were solicited using a scenario-based design approach. The results revealed tensions between managing general usability principles of ease of use and efficiency with the medical principles of dealing with medical errors, privacy and interruptions. The findings can be used to inform future nursing mobile system design and to provide evidence for supporting nurses' involvement in the early system design and evaluation process.