The role of locally-designed organizational artifacts in supporting nurses’ work: an ethnographic study on the wards

INTRODUCTION:This paper aims to describe how nurses’ planning and coordination work is performed through the use of locally designed tools (i.e., diaries, planners, reminders, and organizers). These tools are investigated as the materialization of organizational work, thus offering a complementary perspective on nursing practice to that proposed by the professional mandate and supported by official artifacts in use. METHOD:Ethnographic study. RESULTS:By analyzing locally designed artifacts, the rationale that enables nurses to make the flow of activities work is highlighted and explained. Evidence is provided by a description of how nurses’ tacit knowledge is reified and embedded into objects produced by the nurses themselves. Implications for the design of digital systems supporting nursing practice are discussed. CONCLUSION: The analysis of these artifacts has allowed an understanding of practices used by the nurses to manage the workflow in the wards.