My projects aims at investigating how healthcare professionals use an information system (IS) to support patient treatment in a shift work context. Theoretically, use is motivated by a number of factors related to the individual user’s domain such as usefulness to the individual user’s work or ease of use. In a setting in which close collaboration not only within a single work shift, but also across is a prerequisite for the quality of patient care/outcome, the use of IS may be motivated by other factors than usefulness and ease of use.

Methodologically, my project can be classified as qualitative study, more specifically a case study applying interviews and observations as primary means of data sources.

Permanent ED healthcare professionals (nurses and physicians) as the principal users of IS. 

(Main) results of my project revolve around the motivation to use an IS across work shifts. Within work shifts, use patterns reflect the usefulness of the IS to healthcare professionals in patient treatment. Across work shifts, use patterns change and motivation to use does not reside any longer within the individual’s domain, but use is motivate by incoming healthcare professionals’ need of information about patients’ treatment progression. Further, healthcare professionals’ perception of the IS changes across work shifts from enabling collaboration in the treatment process to simply offering some functionality to support patient treatment.