Title: How is the electronic medical record changing registered nurses’ practices when caring for patients?
Abstract:
Worldwide, healthcare services have been adopting electronic medical records (EMRs) and person-centred care (PCC) (Institute of Medicine [IOM] 2001, 2012). Separately, the EMR and PCC are said to improve the safety and quality of healthcare (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare [ACSQHC], 2018; World Health Organization [WHO], 2023). Australia was initially slow to adopt EMRS and PCC compared to other developed countries; however, the implementation rate has steadily risen over the past decade in both public and private healthcare services (ACSQHC, 2021). There is evidence of tensions between using the EMR and nurses’ endeavours to implement PCC. As nurses are the potential major users of EMRs and have professional requirements to provide person-centred care, it is imperative to identify how the EMR influences their provision of PCC. This research explores nurses’ practices while using EMRs when caring for patients. Using Yin’s (2018) single holistic case study design, multiple data sources will be accessed to explore the phenomenon and construct validity. Currently, semi-structured interviews are being held with voluntary nurse participants to gain their perspectives on using the EMR while providing PCC. Other data will include their workplace’s value and philosophy statements and the primary researcher’s notes and reflections. Data will be analysed using Fairclough’s (2015) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which will be used to (1) describe the written or spoken text, (2) interpret the relationship between the text and interaction, and (3) explain the relationship between the interaction and wider social and organisational contexts.
Audience Take Away Notes:
• The challenges that Australian nurses have during EMR implementation
• These challenges can potentially impact the safety and quality of healthcare
• Understanding Australian nurses’ challenges may help inform healthcare organizations and government agencies to improve system designs
• It is also important that future research seek nurses' perspectives on the EMR during their provision of PCC
