Objectives: This study investigates the effects of nurses' views regarding electronic medical records on patient safety culture.
Methods:The implementation part of the study was conducted with nurses working in seven state hospitals in the Burdur province of Turkey. The data were collected between 15 March and 20 April 2018. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationships among the variables in the study. In addition, descriptive analyses (mean, standard deviation) and Cronbach α coefficients of reliability of the scales were also used.
Results: The results of the analyses revealed that control variables (gender, educational level, age, etc) and all dimensions of electronic medical records affected all three dimensions of patient safety culture. The control variables and all dimensions of electronic medical records explained 41% of the total variance in perceptions of process, 42.5% of the total variance in management support for patient safety, and 27.9% of the total variance in perceptions of safety. Discussion: This study provides insight concerning the effects of nurses' views of electronic medical records on patient safety culture. The results of the study reveal that nurses' views of electronic medical records affect the perception of patient safety culture positively. Conclusions: It is recommended that further studies be conducted on topics such as the use of medical records and the development of patient safety. Health care managers should encourage nurses to undergo training and educational efforts on electronic medical records and patient safety. KEYWORDS electronic medical records, patient safety culture, health sector 1 | INTRODUCTION Information technology has been used as an important tool for improving patient safety and quality of care, especially in promoting the practice of evidence-based medicine. Among all health information technologies in current use, electronic medical records (EMRs) have the most comprehensive capabilities. Therefore, they have great potential in increasing the quality of health care. 1 EMRs are computerized records of clinical, demographic, and management information in health care organizations, especially hospitals. 2 By another definition,EMRs constitute a computerized medical information system that collects, stores, and displays patient information. 3 In addition, EMRs also