Nurses' Perceptions and Experiences With the Implementation of a Medication Administration System

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to describe facilitators and barriers to the implementation of a commercially available electronic medication administration record system at two pediatric hospitals. Qualitative interviews were conducted at 6 and 18 months after implementation with a convenience sample of nurses working on either the medical-surgical or ICUs. The 18-month interview reassessed barriers identified to the adoption of the electronic medication administration record system at the 6-month interview. The vast majority of respondents (85%) indicated that the implementation plan met their expectations. The most significant barrier to adoption (identified by 72% of respondents) was excessive time for logging into the system. After 18 months, respondent satisfaction increased considerably as modifications to the electronic medication administration record system were made, and adjustments to workflow resulted in streamlined nurse work processes coupled with increased productivity and enhanced patient safety. While this study confirms that nursing staff acceptance of health information technology is aided by the system's ability to improve patient safety and accessibility of patient information, we also found that factors unrelated to the actual software or the system could be important determinants of users' satisfaction.

Healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to implementing electronic systems for the prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines in hospitals: a systematic review

“…Themes overlapped between the different implementation phases and healthcare professionals. While two studies reviewed the perceived benefits of system implementation such as increased patient safety, time efficiency and improved interdepartmental communication, one study detailed the perceived structures needed to be in place to determine successful system implementation such as organisational stability and team leadership for implementation 29 32 33…”

“…Doubts about the ability to cope with new technology were also identified as concerns that related to the availability of sufficient training, support and recognition of major work changes 30 32. Adequate preparatory training was recognised as a chief concern among doctors, nurses and pharmacists and the implementation period as a time for potential stress and errors 30 32 33…”

Nurses’ perceptions and attitudes towards computerisation in a private hospital

“…The nursing managers need to realise that appropriate and prompt technical support can help nurses to solve the technical problems in their daily work. Delayed log‐in times and an inefficient processes led to reduced efficiency while using the system in a busy ward environment (Culler et al . 2011).…”

The Association of Electronic Health Record Use on Quality of Care for Patients Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

“…Some studies reported that hospitals with EHRs had better patient safety and other quality outcomes compared to hospitals without EHRs. 7,18,27,[29][30][31] However, other studies reported that using the EHR system was not associated with an improvement in quality of care. [32][33] Furthermore, no review specifically discussed the impact of EHRs on quality of care for a specific chronic disease, such as diabetes.…”

“…Twelve studies reported that some participants included in their studies (nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, administrative/licensed staff, and ambulatory care network/information systems/practice/vendor leadership) positively perceived the use of EHRs on patient care quality. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] However, seven studies stated that some other nurses, physicians, and administrative/licensed staff included in their studies negatively perceived the impact of EHR use on patient care quality. [27][28][29][32][33][34]32,36 The mix of these qualitative findings was used as the foundation for this study to clarify whether or not the EHR system can be employed to improve the quality of patient care, particularly diabetes care.…”