A survey of health information technology (IT) adoption among nurses suggests that security policies designed to protect patients may actually impede care delivery and nurse productivity, Healthcare IT News reports To evaluate nurses’ opinions on health IT at the point of care, market research firm Spyglass Consulting Group conducted in-depth phone interviews with more than 100 nurses working in various clinical settings nationwide. Respondents reported logging on to patient data systems more than 80 times per day on average, a process that they say is prolonged by the rigorous IT security procedures necessary to access the systems.
In addition, nurses said that IT systems often are not well integrated with nursing workflow, requiring many clinicians to manually record patient information at the bedside and enter the data into the system later in their shift. Nurses also indicated that patient information is not always accessible across entire organizations, communities or regions and that they often encounter difficulties sharing and aggregating patient data with other units or facilities. Moreover, they reported problems with mobile computer carts designed to facilitate bedside documentation, noting that the carts often are too bulky and cumbersome to maneuver in patient rooms.
Researchers hope the survey data will help IT industry and health care officials better design point-of-care IT solutions to enhance patient safety and reduce medical errors without compromising nurse productivity (Pizzi, Healthcare IT News, 12/18/07; Spyglass report, November 2007 [purchase required]).