Development of an Online Collaborative Database System for Storing Newborn Data Sets - การพัฒนาระบบฐานข้อมูลความร่วมมือ เพื่อการจัดเก็บข้อมูลทารกแรกเกิด บนเครือข่ายอินเตอร์เน็ต

Abstract

The objective of this operations research was to develop an online database system of newborn data sets. The sample groups consisted of 24 professional practicing nurses in Nursery Unit. Obstetrics Ward, Special Obstetrics, and Infants Unit, of the hospitals under the Ministry of Education (MoE), provincial hospitals, and hospital centers in Chiang Mai. In the first research phase, the objective was to study data management system of newborn data sets, and needs in various aspects as required by the hospitals under the Ministry of Education (MoE), provincial hospitals, and hospital centers in the province, and to design database system. In the second phase, data gained and collected was brought to develop database management system (DBMS) using a programming language called PHP and MySQL database to display information online. Training on operating database applications was provided to 25 samples. In the third phase, trained nurses tried inserting newborn data sets into a database. Data collection period was from November to December, 2006; data collection instruments in this phase included the Demographic Data, the Questionnaire of Usage of Online Collaborative Database, and the Questionnaire of Satisfaction of Usage of Online Collaborative Database. The questionnaires were approved by five experts in the field with overall agreement in the percentage of 80. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings showed that the development of a collaborative database system of newborn data sets on the internet revealed the characteristics of newborn data set as follows: a) cross-checking system prior to saving data into the database; b) searching for and retrieving specific data; c) updating and showing processed data in the form of tables and graphs in real time. Upon using the online collaborative database system of newborn data sets, most of the samples found no obstacle or problem when working online and could always retrieve specific data; inputting data online could be done easier and more conveniently than that in a paper form. They were satisfied with the online database system. The levels of their satisfaction ranged from "very satisfactory" to "the most satisfactory". The results of this study have shown that an online database system is not only extremely useful but it can also meet users' requirements, thus the database system for public health should be developed more for modernization, convenience in storing and searching for data, and also shortened data processing time.