More nurses are using mobile devices

The results of a new survey released by Wolters Kluwer Health show that the adoption of mobile devices by nurses at work continues to grow.

According to the findings, 65 percent of nurses responding to the survey said they use a mobile device professionally at least 30 minutes a day, while 20 percent reported using a mobile device two hours or more each day.

In addition, 60 percent of respondents said they use social media sites at work to follow healthcare issues. However, about one-half of those surveyed said their organizations block access on company networks to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Yet according to the perceptions of the nurses surveyed, most healthcare organizations (95 percent) allow their nurses to consult online resources for clinical information and 89 percent allow nurses to use online search engines while at work.

In a press release announcing the findings of the survey, Judith McCann, chief nurse, Lippincott Solutions, Wolters Kluwer Health, Professional & Education, said, "These findings largely mirror what we are seeing outside the hospital, that use of mobile devices to access online information, the Internet and social sites are becoming part of the social fabric both personally and professionally. Although these findings may not reflect the actual policies of these institutions, what's interesting are the perceptions of the nurses who work there, and what we learned is that nurses are frequently incorporating the use of mobile devices, online resources and, to some extent, social media into their daily workflow."