title: Impacts of information and communication technologies on nursing care: an overview of systematic reviews (protocol).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Information and communication technologies (ICTs) used in the health sector have well-known advantages. They can promote patient-centered healthcare, improve quality of care, and educate health professionals and patients. However, implementation of ICTs remains difficult and involves changes at different levels: patients, healthcare providers, and healthcare organizations. Nurses constitute the largest health provider group of the healthcare workforce. The use of ICTs by nurses can have impacts in their practice. The main objective of this review of systematic reviews is to systematically summarize the best evidence regarding the effects of ICTs on nursing care.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will include all types of reviews that aim to evaluate the influence of ICTs used by nurses on nursing care. We will consider four types of ICTs used by nurses as a way to provide healthcare: management systems, communication systems, information systems, and computerized decision support systems. We will exclude nursing management systems, educational systems, and telephone systems. The following types of comparisons will be carried out: ICT in comparison with usual care/practice, ICT compared to any other ICT, and ICT versus other types of interventions. The primary outcomes will include nurses' practice environment, nursing processes/scope of nursing practice, nurses' professional satisfaction as well as nursing sensitive outcomes, such as patient safety, comfort, and quality of life related to care, empowerment, functional status, satisfaction, and patient experience. Secondary outcomes will include satisfaction with ICT from the nurses and patients' perspective. Reviews published in English, French, or Spanish from 1 January 1995 will be considered. Two reviewers will independently screen the title and abstract of the papers in order to assess their eligibility and extract the following information: characteristics of the population and setting, type of interventions (e.g., type of ICTs and service provided), comparisons, outcomes, and review limitations. Any disagreements will be resolved by discussion and consensus involving the two reviewers or will involve a third review author, if needed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This overview is an interesting starting point from which to compare and contrast findings of separate reviews regarding the positive and negative effects of ICTs on nursing care.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  PROSPERO CRD42014014762.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Laval University, Quebec, Canada. genevieve.rouleau.chum@ssss.gouv.qc.ca.|Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, 850 rue St-Denis, Tour St-Antoine, third floor, Door S03-422, Montreal, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada. genevieve.rouleau.chum@ssss.gouv.qc.ca.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rouleau
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Laval University, Quebec, Canada. marie-pierre.gagnon@fsi.ulaval.ca.|Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire du Québec, St.-François d'Assise Hospital, 10 rue de l'Espinay, D6-734, Quebec City, QC, G1L 3L5, Canada. marie-pierre.gagnon@fsi.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, 850 rue St-Denis, Tour St-Antoine, third floor, Door S03-422, Montreal, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada. jose.cote@umontreal.ca.|Faculty of Nursing, Université de Montréal, Door 5099, Pavillon Marguerite-d'Youville, C.P. 6128 succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada. jose.cote@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Côté
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics; D009726:Nurses; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic