Paper long abstract:

Nursing care is increasingly about technology. Nurses (and patients) expect a certain outcome of the introduction of technology, for example to be able to follow patients more closely. This study aims to answer the question what differences there are between the expectations and the actual practices of nurses when using technology in care. The fieldwork for this study was conducted in a homecare setting, in a team of oncology nurses specialized in palliative care. In a telecare project the nurses aim was to follow patients and check their symptoms more closely, without being more intrusive by visiting them more often. A paper questionnaire, which asks patients to give a grade to their symptoms, was digitalized in order to fit the telecare project. The data of this project comes from interviews with patients and nurses and observations of telecare consultations. The analysis focusses on the different expectations and practices. The digital questionnaire made patients change their behavior, as they did not want to fill it in or alarm the nurse with a high score. Nurses concluded that everything was well. Similar changes occurred on the ideas of who is in charge. Nurses wanted patients to be in control of contact, but if they did not use the machine, nurses got in touch anyway. Technology is not a neutral player, but actively changes the care it is used for and new forms of care originate.