Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Catherine Garner

Abstract

Currently, C Hospital lacks a standardized nursing informatics competency program to validate nurses' skills and knowledge in using electronic medical records (EMRs). At the study locale, the organization is about to embark on the implementation of a new, more comprehensive EMR system. All departments will be required to use the new EMR, unlike the current policy that allows some areas to still document on paper. The Institute of Medicine, National League of Nursing, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing support and recommend that information technology be an essential core competency for nurses. Evidence of the need for nursing informatic competencies was found through a literature search using CINHAL, Proquest Nursing, Medline, and Pubmed search lines. Concepts searched were competencies, nursing informatics, health information technology, electronic health record, information technology literacy, nursing education, information technology training, and curriculum. The Staggers Nursing Computer Experience Questionnaire was distributed to 300 nurses practicing within the hospital setting to obtain baseline data on current nursing computer knowledge and skill level. This validated tool was created by Nancy Staggers in 1994 and used in other process improvement efforts similar to this one. The assumption was that nursing competency levels with computers were varied through the hospital. The data obtained from the questionnaire, through Zoho Survey tool, confirmed this assumption and were used to help create the education, support, and competency plan for the future. Data was analyzed through the built-in reports and interactive charts that the Zoho survey tool provides. The new EMR and all the new processes that come with it will be the framework of nursing care. Having competent nurses in the use of the EMR will optimize the quality of patient care delivered.

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