Primary healthcare nurses' perceptions about their ability to utilise electronic health records

Abstract

Introduction:The implementation, adoption and use of electronic health records remains a global challenge despite the numerous advantages associated with their use. This paper explores primary healthcare nurses' perceptions regarding their skill levels in using EHRs. Methods: Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from a sample of 71 nurses (63% response rate) in selected primary health care (PHC) facilities of the Northern-Tygerberg substructure, Cape Town. Results:The overall results show that 59 respondents (83%) believed that they were skilled in using EHRs in PHC. Nearly two thirds of all nurses (46 or 64.8%) reported using EHRs for nursing documentation, 45 nurses (63%) reported using EHRs to store, retrieve and transfer data, 44 (62%) reported being able to design a flow chart, 38 (53.5%) reported being able to access databases and 38 (52.1%) reported being able to convert electronic files for various applications. However, 33 nurses (46.5%) were unsure of their computer skills in creating multimedia files. This varied from service department to service department, with 62 respondents (87.3%) in pediatric care and 59 respondents (83.1%) in family planning, adult nursing and HIV management reporting having EHR skills. Enrolled nurses rated their EHR skills significantly lower (58%) than registered nurses (92%) (p = 0.028). Discussion and conclusion: Although most respondents in this study reported being skilled in using EHRs in PHC, better computer accessibility and continuous training are important ongoing requirements. Further qualitative research is needed to better understand some of the problems and barriers which affect nurses' ability to use EHRs in PHC settings. IZVLEČEKUvod: Uvedba in uporaba elektronskih zdravstvenih kartotek (EZK) predstavlja globalen izziv kljub številnim prednostim, povezanim z njihovo uporabo. Namen raziskave je bil raziskati sposobnosti uporabe EZK medicinskih sester v primarni zdravstveni dejavnosti. Metode: Za zbiranje podatkov smo uporabili lasten vprašalnik na vzorcu 71 medicinskih sester (63-odstotna stopnja odziva) v izbranih ustanovah primarnega zdravstvenega varstva v podstrukturi Northern-Tygerberg, v mestu Cape Town. Rezultati: Rezultati raziskave kažejo, da 59 anketirancev (83 %) ocenjuje, da so vešči uporabe EZK v primarni zdravstveni dejavnosti. Skoraj dve tretjini medicinskih sester (46 oz. 4,8 %) uporablja EZK za potrebe zdravstvene dokumentacije, 45 (63 %) medicinskih sester uporablja EZK za shranjevanje, pridobivanje in prenos podatkov, 44 (62 %) medicinskih sester je sposobnih oblikovati diagram poteka, 38 (53,5 %) medicinskih sester zna dostopati do baz podatkov in 38 (52,1 %) medicinskih sester zna pretvarjati elektronske datoteke za rabo z različnimi aplikacijami. Vendar pa kar 33 (46,5 %) medicinskih sester ni bilo prepričanih o svojih računalniških spretnostih za ustvarjanje večpredstavnostnih datotek. Rezultati se razlikujejo po posameznih oddelkih zdravstvene nege. Kar 62 (87,3 %) anketirancev v pediatrični oskrbi in 59 (83,1 %) a...

Pametne tehnologije v izobraževanju medicinskih sester

“…Primanjkljaj vsebin s področja pametnih tehnologij v formalnem izobraževanju medicinskih sester kaže na potrebo po dodatnem izpopolnjevanju iz teh vsebin tudi za tiste medicinske sestre, ki so že zaključile formalno izobraževanje. Raziskave (Rantanen & Toikko, 2017;Glomsas et al, 2020;Scerri et al, 2021;Tengeh & Bimerew, 2022) namreč ugotavljajo, da je pomembno tako izobraževanje tekom študija kot nadaljnja izpopolnjevanja s področja novih tehnologij.…”