Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Dana Leach

Abstract

Emergency Department (ED) providers and staff experience challenges with using electronic health record (EHR) software to document and communicate about patient care. These difficulties are often caused by inadequate training in the use of the organization's EHR system. Challenges with EHR use have been linked to increased ED patient wait times, which impacts patient safety by delaying care and increasing the potential for medication errors. Providing education that addresses EHR software; EHR usability; and collaboration among staff, providers, and EHR system managers has been shown to reduce ED wait times and decrease the risk of medication errors. The purpose of this project was to evaluate a new ED Safety EHR educational module and to identify provider and staff difficulties when operating ED EHR software. The goal of this project was to provide relevant education to ED providers and staff, which could minimize the impact of EHR use on patient safety in the emergency setting. Relational coordination theory and Kolcaba's theory of comfort framed this project. Five local ED staff and providers considered experts in EHR software utilization were chosen to review and validate the content of the educational module using a ten question, 4-point Likert scale survey. All five experts agreed that the content of the ED Safety EHR educational module was easy to read, comprehensible, and relevant. One noted area of weakness involved the technical language used in the educational module. Participants requested language simplification prior to implementation. This project promotes social change by addressing the need for ED EHR education as a strategy to reduce ED patient wait times and minimize the risk of medication errors in the emergency setting.

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