Encouraging nurses to develop effective electronic documentation

Abstract

This article is the first in a series that explores the growth in the use of, and reliance on, information management systems in health and social care. Its aim is to help nurses understand how effective information management systems can improve their practice. Problems faced by nurses in the past, when they have been required to use these systems to record, store and retrieve information, tended to be generated by poor or inappropriate systems. The series offers examples of how the vital role that nurses play in increasingly information-intensive healthcare environments can be developed. This first article sets the scene and considers the health and social care information agenda in light of the Department of Health (2012) information strategy.

The influence of social challenges when implementing information systems in a Swedish health-care organisation

“…). If the organisation is not prepared for reformation, nurses (Jooste , Procter & Woodburn ), might be even more sceptical of IS. Hence, according to Scheel et al .…”

“…If nurses are taught their profession in a way that does not include the extensive use of IS to support their everyday work practice and, moreover, if IS are implemented in health care without care being taken to support nursing practice, it is hardly surprising that nurses have difficulties in developing a professional identity that supports the use of IS as a useful and flexible tool in their work (Procter & Woodburn ). This mismatch and the loss of meaningfulness in the interaction flow in health care work that Scheel et al .…”

“…). Nurses' experiences of being neglected when IS are implemented in their practice have been dismissed as reasons for setbacks (Procter & Woodburn ), although IS are intended to assist them in their everyday work (Johansson et al . ), which implies that their experiences of IS in practice should be taken seriously.…”

“…Johansson et al . () recommend that staff on different levels in health‐care organisations are included in discussions of how IS are implemented in order to provide safe, efficient, and accessible health care but also to meet and be aware of what Jooste () and Procter and Woodburn () call attention to: IS will change and challenge how, in particular, nurses feel about and act in their professional role. In previous research, Nilsson et al .…”

“…Delays and frustration caused by difficulties in IS and technical setbacks (Viitanen et al 2011) may lead to mistakes in health-care workflows (Handel & Hackman 2010) that affect the quality of care (Love et al 2012) and patient safety (Li et al 2012). Nurses' experiences of being neglected when IS are implemented in their practice have been dismissed as reasons for setbacks (Procter & Woodburn 2012), although IS are intended to assist them in their everyday work (Johansson et al 2011), which implies that their experiences of IS in practice should be taken seriously. To gain an overall picture of delayed implementation processes of IS in health care it is important to draw attention to the interconnectedness of technical and social issues (Nilsson et al 2012, Meeks et al 2014.…”