Presence of nursing information on hospital websites in five countries: a review.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study were to (1) examine the presence of nursing information on 50 hospital websites across five countries; (2) describe the accessibility, range and depth of nursing information provided; and (3) compare the characteristics of nursing web information across the countries.


BACKGROUND
Providing information on hospital website is an increasingly popular strategy for marketing hospital services, and it has been playing unique and important roles for nursing. So far, the nursing information offered via hospital websites is not uncommon worldwide, but the amount, content and form of such information presented by the institutions of different countries have not been examined systematically.


METHODS
Objective sampling was employed to select 50 top hospital websites from five countries, with ten for each geographical region, namely, Australia (Oceania), China (Asia), South Africa (Africa), UK (Europe) and the USA (North America). A self-developed checklist was used to examine the presence of nursing information on the above-mentioned hospital websites.


RESULTS
The most frequently presented information on the hospital websites was nursing employment (job placement), nursing education, and news and events concerning the nursing profession, but information about other aspects of nursing was relatively lacking. The hospital websites in the USA and Australia provided more information as compared with those in China and the UK. Nursing information was almost unavailable on hospital websites in South Africa. Although the accessibility of nursing-related information has been improved, the presence of nursing information was not strong on the hospital websites across the five countries.


CONCLUSIONS
The nursing information presented on hospital websites varied with different countries. Efforts have to be made to improve the presence and accessibility of nursing information. Information about the nursing services, professional image of nurses and nursing employment should be enhanced.
Chen
L L
LL
Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
Liu
Y L
YL
D001315:Australia; D057189:Checklist; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009729:Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D013019:South Africa; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D014584:User-Computer Interface