Nurses’ Experiences Regarding the Impact of the Implementation of Digital Health and Social Center on their Work and Other Practices: A Qualitative Interview Study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to describe how the implementation of a digital health and social care center affected registered nurses’ work. The study was conducted as a qualitative descriptive study in primary care, and the data were collected through semi structured remote interviews with 12 nurses. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. A total of three impacts and main categories were recognized, namely 1) impacts on patient care work, 2) impacts on interprofessional communication and work processes, and 3) impacts on nurses’ and other professionals’ work, workload, and wellbeing. Regarding the impacts on patient care, the digital health and social center increased the availability of digital services but also generated failure demand originating from patients. Interprofessional communication and work processes improved due to enhanced information flow, yet this simultaneously led to a substantial increase in both the volume and speed of information. While some processes and operations became more efficient, interviewees also reported instances of incompleteness. Finally, the digital health and social center affected professionals’ work and wellbeing by enabling remote work and reshaping work tasks, but it also contributed to an increased workload. In conclusion, the digital health and social care center was found to provide significant benefits for patient service accessibility and professional collaboration. However, its successful implementation requires clear operational practices, sufficient onboarding, standardized processes, and close collaboration between system developers and end users. Poor organizational preparedness and multichannel service use may increase nurses’ workload and hinder work-flow efficiency.