Driving new technologies in hospitals: association of organizational and personal factors with the readiness of neonatal intensive care unit staff toward webcam implementation

BACKGROUND: The use of webcam technology in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) enables parents to see their child when the parents cannot be present at the NICU. The webcam’s use has been gaining increasing attention. Lead physicians and lead nursing staff play a key role in the decision of whether to implement webcams. This study investigates factors that are associated with the readiness for the implementation of a webcam system among lead NICU staff. METHODS: A postal survey was conducted among all lead physicians and lead nursing staff in all German NICUs between December 2020 and April 2021 (total N = 416, one lead physician and one lead nursing staff per NICU, N = 208). On the basis of normalization process theory, personal (technology acceptance) and organizational (innovation climate) attributes were chosen to determine their association with the readiness for the implementation of a webcam system. The association of these factors was determined using multiple linear regression models for both lead physicians and lead nurses. RESULTS: Overall, a response rate of 66.59% (n = 277) was achieved. Technology acceptance proved to be a significant factor associated with the readiness for the implementation of a webcam system among lead physicians. Furthermore, staff already working with webcams in their NICUs indicated a significantly higher level of technology acceptance than staff without webcam experience and without any desire to use a webcam in the future. No significant association was found between innovation climate and the readiness for the implementation of a webcam system. CONCLUSIONS: Technology acceptance was identified as a factor associated with the readiness for the implementation of a webcam system. The insights from this study can be used to manage potential barriers regarding the readiness for implementation of webcams in NICUs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Neo-CamCare study is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register. DRKS-ID: DRKS00017755. Date of Registration in DRKS: 25-09-2019. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08072-5.