Socio‐Organisational Aspects Related to Digital Competence Development Among Healthcare Professionals: A Cross‐Sectional Study With Cluster Analysis
Janne Kommusaar, Laura-Maria Peltonen, Kadri Suija, Erika Jarva, Kristina Mikkonen, Lauri Sillanmäki, Mari KangasniemiBackground
The increasing integration of digital technologies into healthcare has changed competence requirements for healthcare professionals, making digital competence essential for safe and effective care. Digital competence is shaped not only by individual skills but also by management support, organisational practices and collegial support.
Aim
To describe healthcare professionals’ assessments of socio‐organisational aspects associated with their digital competence development and to identify profiles of socio‐organisational support based on these assessments.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 2024 in Estonia. The Aspects Associated with Digital Health Competence (DigiComInf) and Digital Health Competence (DigiHealthCom) instruments were applied. Healthcare professionals from different professional groups and clinical settings were recruited through convenience sampling. The K‐means cluster methodology was the main tool for analysing the data.
Results
A total of 464 healthcare professionals were included in the analysis. Management and collegial support for digital competence development were rated moderate, whereas organisational practices were rated low. Three socio‐organisational support profiles were identified, with digital competence moderate across all but showing a clear gradient, highest in the High Support profile and lowest in the Low Support profile. The profiles also differed according to healthcare professionals’ personal, work‐related and technology training–related factors.
Conclusions
Healthcare professionals reported different patterns of socio‐organisational support for digital competence development. The findings suggest that managerial engagement, organisational practices and collegial support may be relevant for digital competence development. Further research should examine managers’ perspectives and the relationship between managerial and professional views of these support structures.
Implications for Nursing Management
The socio‐organisational support profiles identified in this study may serve as a practical framework for nurse managers to identify where managerial, organisational or collegial support for digital competence development could be strengthened. A coordinated organisational and policy‐level approach could support more consistent and systematic support for digital competence development across healthcare settings.