Academic Electronic Health Records: SimChart Students’ Perspective

Abstract

Background: Over the years, healthcare has witnessed remarkable transformations, as reflected in today's nursing practice, research and education. The introduction of electronic health records (EHRs) with the increasing uptake in its implementation is a manifestation of the positive impact of EHRs on the healthcare delivery system. Notably, EHRs has been in use over the past two decades, with a significant increase in its utilization across healthcare settings. However, studies have shown that EHR technologies have not been adequately incorporated into the educational curricula of nurses to prepare them for transition to real-world practice experience, after their graduation. In the light of the stated benefits and challenges of EHRs, the goal of this article is to ascertain the undergraduate students' usability and perspective regarding the academic EHR (SimChart) in the preparedness of nurses.Method: Approximately, a hundred SimChart codes were purchased through the Evolve ® Elsevier Inc., for this pilot study. Both faculty and students were trained on the usage of SimChart after the codes were installed in their laptops. A survey was created with a secured tool for data collection on the perspective of undergraduate students. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics v29.0.Results: 59 (81.94%) out of 72 students who responded to the survey answered favorably to perceived importance of SimChart usage in case study, simulation, or clinical arena. 37 (56.39%) of students deemed SimChart as extremely important and very important, while 22 (30.56%) described usage as somewhat important. The remarkably high percentage of students who acknowledge usefulness of SimChart is proof of the significance importance of SimChart in developing relevant competencies as well as building skills that students need to be successful in current healthcare settings. Limitations & Discussion:The survey is limited to the experience of one institution; hence, study is not panoramic as to reflect experiences with nursing programs in other institutions. Financial constraints constitute a limiting factor to the implementation of SimChart, not only for institutions but also for faculty skill and students who may not afford the additional costs of purchasing necessary informatics and analytical tools for positive learning outcomes.Implications & Future Research: The potential gains of SimChart tool are not fully realized when training is not started early in nursing programs. It is necessary that nurses, at the inception of their programs, are assessed on self-reported knowledge of informatics and attitudes toward SimChart to guide instructional designs and approaches. Therefore, there is need for more studies to identify impediments to students' adoption of SimChart learning strategies to meet current health technology and informatics workplace requirements and equip nurses with essential knowledge and skills to perform nursing roles.