EMR Benefits: Nurses
Contents
Nurse Satisfaction
Majority of nurses reported that EMR allowed them to better monitor patient progress and finish work faster.[1] A study from 2008, found that nurses in general found a new EMR to be more efficient, accessible and improved accuracy. [2] By improving these interactions with the patient's records and orders prescribed by physicians, nurses feel that they are better able to care for the patient's and ensure the care they deliver is appropriate and effective to the patients. Another aspect that the nurses viewed as an improvement is legibility. Without EMRs many physician input orders using pen and paper. Illegible orders put the nurse at risk at delivering inappropriate care, which subsequently puts the patient at risk of injury, but with EMRs orders are input into computers and thus eliminating the issue of legibility.
Advantages
- A single consolidated record for each person
- Capacity for data interfaces and alerts
- Improved interdisciplinary communication
- Evidence-based decision support
- EMRs can add to work complexity, by forcing better documentation of previously unrecorded data and/or because of poor design
- EMRs reminders help nurses at the bedside.
- One centralized place for all of the patient information. [3]
Reduced Documentation Time
According to a systematic review of literature.[4], nurses were able to reduce time spent on documentation by 24% using bedside EMR terminals. This may increase nurse satisfaction and allow nurses to perform additional patient-centered care. However, when evaluating EMR benefits and assessing return on investment (ROI) for an EMR implementation, it is best to report time savings as minutes saved per shift per nurse rather than as money saved.[5] A reduction in nursing staff may not be possible even with the increased documentation efficiency. Any reduction in cost of care may need to be derived from improved patient outcomes or reduced lengths of stay. Demonstration of such a causal effect would be difficult and any cost savings may be realized by payers or patients rather than the hospital system.[6]
A 2013 study found that utilizing an electronic EMR-linked method of vital sign capture resulted in significant reduction in time to make the data available for review, dropping from an average of over one hour to just over two minutes. The study showed a significant increase in nurse satisfaction with the directly linked technology as well. The conclusion was that integrating automated data collection with EMR increased nursing efficiency and frees more time for direct patient care.[7]
Nursing Education
Incorporating EMR in academic curricula, specifically during their clinical practicum, benefited nurses by introducing them to the process of patient documentation with the technology they will be using professionally. [8]
References
- ↑ Likourezos, A., Chalfin, D. B., Murphy, D. G., Sommer, B., Darcy, K., & Davidson, S. J. (2004). Physician and nurse satisfaction with an electronic medical record system. The Journal of emergency medicine, 27(4), 419-424.
- ↑ Beiter, P.A., Sorscher, J., Henderson C.J., Talen, M. (2008) Do electronic medical record (EMR)demonstrations change attitudes,knowledge, skills or needs?. Informatics in Primary Care, 16, 221-227.
- ↑ http://www.nursezone.com/nursing-news-events/devices-and-technology/The-Endless-Nursing-Benefits-of-Electronic-Medical-Records_24676.aspx
- ↑ Poissant, L., Pereira, J., Tamblyn, R., & Kawasumi, Y. (2005). The impact of electronic health records on time efficiency of physicians and nurses: a systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 12(5), 505-516.
- ↑ Thompson, D. I., Osheroff, J., Classen, D., & Sittig, D. F. (2006). A review of methods to estimate the benefits of electronic medical records in hospitals and the need for a national benefits database. Journal of healthcare information management: JHIM, 21(1), 62-68.
- ↑ Kaushal, R., Jha, A. K., Franz, C., Glaser, J., Shetty, K. D., Jaggi, T., ... & Brigham and Women's Hospital CPOE Working Group. (2006). Return on investment for a computerized physician order entry system. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 13(3), 261-266.
- ↑ Wood, J., & Finkelstein, J. (2013). Comparison of automated and manual vital sign collection at hospital wards. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 190, 48–50. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23823371
- ↑ Choi M, Lee HS, Park JH. Usability of Academic Electronic Medical Record Application for Nursing Students’ Clinical Practicum. Healthcare Informatics Research. 2015;21(3):191-195. doi:10.4258/hir.2015.21.3.191. http://ca3cx5qj7w.search.serialssolutions.com/OpenURL_local?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:26279956
