Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Kenneth Levitt

Abstract

Distracted nurses who use their personal smartphone at work has resulted in the diversion of attention from patient care. The specific problem is the personal smartphone use by nurses in the hospital settings has resulted in distracted patient care, leading to wrongful release of patient’s information, medical errors, injury or preventable patient death. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the perceptions of nurses regarding distracted patient care in their clinical workplace due to personal smartphone use by nurses. The study was grounded in the distraction-conflict theory conceptual framework. The key research question examined the perceptions of nurses regarding distracted patient care in their clinical workplace due to personal smartphone use by nurses. A single case study with embedded units was conducted and involved a total of 54 participants. The trustworthiness of the study’s data was supported by employing methodological triangulation from the study’s three data sources: semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and an open-ended questionnaire. Four themes and 9 subthemes were revealed after thematic analysis. The findings clearly demonstrated that nurses perceive their smartphones as an integral tool to assist in patient care and, if misused, a distraction that may create a negative impact on patient care. This study is likely to promote positive social change by providing guidance for nursing management on defining policies and practices based on nurses’ smartphone use that incorporate the perceptions and insight of the nurses to provide professional application that heighten the awareness of distracted health care.

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