ObjectiveTo understand the nurses' cognition of "online nurse appointment" under the background of "Internet+ nursing service" and the factors influencing nurses' willingness to do "online nurse appointment".

MethodsTwo thousand two hundred and forty-one nurses from 12 hospitals in Southern Anhui province were selected.A self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate the cognition and intention of online nurses.

ResultsThe differences of the willingness to work as "online nurse appointment" among different age groups, working years, marital status, children's status, professional titles and whether like to do nurse were statistically significant(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01).The 34.6% of nurses with more than 50 years old, 28.6% of nurses with more than 20 years of working experience, 43.1% of nurses with associate chief nurse and above, 26.0% of nurses with children, 35.3% of other nurses with marital status and 24.5% of nurses liking to do nurse were very willing to be "online nurses".The differences of the effects of hearing the policy of "online nurse appointment", degree of understanding "online nurse appointment", whether approving the implementation of "online nurse appointment" and outlook of "online nurse appointment" on the willingness to do "online nurse appointment" were statistically significant(P < 0.01).The 506(22.6%)nurses indicated that they were very willing to work as "online nurse appointment", 811(36.2%) nurses were generally willing, 801(35.7%)nurses were uncertain, 73(3.3%)nurses were unwilling, and 50(2.2%)nurses were very unwilling.The 1 159(51.7%)nurses did not hear the online nurse policy, the understanding degree on "online nurse appointment" in 621(27.7%)nurses was general, the 858(38.3%)nurses did not understand the "online nurse appointment".The 896(40.0%)nurses were generally in favor of the implementation of "online nurse appointment", 878(39.2%)nurses were uncertain about the implementation of "online nurse appointment", and 1 171(52.3%)nurses viewed the prospect of "online nurse appointment" as general.

Conclusions"Online nurse appointment" has not been promoted in China at present.Most nurses in third-tier and fourth-tier cities and regions are cautious about "online nurse appointment", and which needs to be further promoted.Senior caregivers can be guided into the community as a priority.Through the market economy, the reasonable economic income can better reflect the professional value of nurses, and reduce the rate of nurse turnover.The work with more autonomy and flexibility has great attraction for nurses to do "online nurse appointment".The low recruitment rate and high turnover rate of nurses can be better maintained if the nursing profession is given more choice.