Factors affecting nurses' attitudes in Israel toward patients who present them with Internet medical information

Nurses regularly encounter patients bringing with them medical data from the Internet. The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence of these encounters, nurses' attitudes to these patients, and the factors that might influence their attitudes. A cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 110 nurses (32 practical nurses, 35 registered nurses and 43 academically trained nurses). The main variables measured were: attitudes toward patients presenting Internet information, professional self-esteem, and three indices of Internet use. The results show that most nurses had encountered patients presenting Internet medical information and held positive attitudes to them. Nurses with such experience had more positive attitudes than nurses with no such experience. Professional self-esteem and indices of Internet use were also positively correlated to favorable attitudes to these patients. Regression analysis showed that professional self-esteem and Internet self-efficacy predicted attitudes to these patients. Since the number of patients presenting Internet information can only multiply, there is a need to prepare and train nurses for encounters with such patients.