Technological Competency among Occupational Health Nurses in the Philippines: A Descriptive-Correlational Study of Technology Self-Efficacy and Perceived Barriers

This study determined the technological competency, technology self-efficacy, and perceived barriers to technology utilization among 236 BOSH-trained occupational health nurses (OHNs) across all regions of Luzon, Philippines. Grounded solely in Locsin's Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing (TCCN) Theory, the study employed a quantitative descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design. Respondents were recruited through referral sampling anchored in OHNAP's professional networks. Data were collected using researcher-constructed instruments informed by the Technological Competency as Caring in Healthcare Providers Instrument (TCCHI; Yamanaka et al., 2025, 2026) and the Digital and Technological Self-Efficacy Scale (Digitech-S; Conte et al., 2023).
Findings revealed that OHNs demonstrated a Very High overall level of technological competency (M = 3.30, SD = 0.32), with Technological Connectedness as the highest domain (M = 3.36) and Technological Knowing as the lowest (M = 3.25). Technology self-efficacy was High overall (M = 3.13, SD = 0.66), with Technology Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy as the lowest domain (M = 2.95). Perceived barriers were Moderate Barrier (M = 2.17, SD = 0.43), with Availability of Occupational Health Technology Training as the most prominent barrier domain (M = 2.07, Rank 1). Industry was the only demographic variable significantly associated with all three central variables and all measurable domains, establishing it as the master differentiating variable of the study. Spearman's rank-order correlation revealed significant weak positive relationships among all three variable pairs (ρ = .342 to .385, all p < .001).
The study concluded that OHN technological competency reflects regulatory-driven connectedness more than caring-oriented knowing, that structural training deficits, rather than individual deficiency, constitute the primary barrier, and that industry context is the most powerful shaper of OHN digital readiness. Based on these findings, the Occupational Health Nursing Digital Competency Framework (OHN-DCF) Version 1.0 was developed as the scholarly output, the first evidence-based digital competency framework specifically designed for occupational health nurses in the Philippines, organized around the TCCN Theory's three domains with three competency levels and four cross-cutting organizational enablers.

technological competency, technology self-efficacy, perceived barriers, occupational health nursing, BOSH training, TCCN Theory, Philippines, Luzon, descriptive-correlational, OHN-DCF

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