title: A usability evaluation exploring the design of American Nurses Association state web sites.
abstract: National leaders are calling for opportunities to facilitate the Future of Nursing. Opportunities can be encouraged through state nurses association Web sites, which are part of the American Nurses Association, that are well designed, with appropriate content, and in a language professional nurses understand. The American Nurses Association and constituent state nurses associations provide information about nursing practice, ethics, credentialing, and health on Web sites. We conducted usability evaluations to determine compliance with heuristic and ethical principles for Web site design. We purposefully sampled 27 nursing association Web sites and used 68 heuristic and ethical criteria to perform systematic usability assessments of nurse association Web sites. Web site analysis included seven double experts who were all RNs trained in usability analysis. The extent to which heuristic and ethical criteria were met ranged widely from one state that met 0% of the criteria for "help and documentation" to states that met greater than 92% of criteria for "visibility of system status" and "aesthetic and minimalist design." Suggested improvements are simple yet make an impact on a first-time visitor's impression of the Web site. For example, adding internal navigation and tracking features and providing more details about the application process through help and frequently asked question documentation would facilitate better use. Improved usability will improve effectiveness, efficiency, and consumer satisfaction with these Web sites.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia (Drs Alexander and Wakefield and Ms Anbari); The Center for Comprehensive Access & Delivery Research and Evaluation, Iowa City Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, IA (Dr Wakefield); Murray-Calloway County Hospital, Murray, KY (Ms Lyons); Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St Louis, MO (Ms Prentice); Blessing Rieman College of Nursing, Quincy, IL (Ms Shepherd); Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, MO (Mr Strecker); and American Nurses Association, Silver Spring, MD (Dr Weston).
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Bonnie J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: Allison B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Anbari
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prentice
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shepherd
authors.forename: E Bradley
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Strecker
authors.forename: Marla J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Weston
mesh_terms: D000575:American Nurses' Association / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D009726:Nurses; D012985:Software Design; D014481:United States; D014584:User-Computer Interface