Exploring Public Perceptions of Telenursing: A Q Methodology Study

Aims: To investigate public perceptions of telenursing in South Korea, an Asian country that is transitioning to the introduction of telenursing and possesses a high level of information and communication technology. This study sought to uncover strategies for the successful introduction and extension of telenursing by identifying the characteristics of existing perceptions.

Design: Q methodology was applied.

Methods: A total of 188 Q populations were selected from the literature, Internet sources, newspaper articles and in-depth interviews about telenursing, from which the final 37 Q statements were derived. Forty-nine people who were expected to have diverse perspectives about telenursing were selected purposively and participated in Q-sorting. The data were obtained from November 2022 to December 2022 and analysed with principal component analysis and varimax rotations using PQMethod version 2.11.

Results: Five types of perceptions regarding telenursing in South Korea were identified: 'Factor I: Preference for convenience and efficiency of telenursing, Active acceptance', 'Factor II: Complete support for telenursing, Total acceptance', 'Factor III: Complete skepticism for telenursing, Total nonacceptance', 'Factor IV: Expectance of the supplementary roles of telenursing, Immediate acceptance' and 'Factor V: Expectance of the supplementary roles of telenursing, Prolonged acceptance'.

Patient or public contribution: Patients and the public were not involved in this study's design, recruitment and implementation.