Nurses' Working Practices: What Can We Learn for Designing Computerised Patient Record Systems?

摘要

As demonstrated by several studies, nurses are reluctant to use poorly designed computerised patient records (CPR). So far, little is known about the nurses' interaction with paper-based patient records. However, these practices should guide the design of a CPR system. Hence, we investigated the nurses' work with the patient records by means of observations and structured interviews on wards in internal medicine, geriatrics and surgery. Depending on the working context and the nursing tasks and activities to be performed, characteristic access preferences and patterns were identified when nurses interacted with patient records. In particular, we found typical interaction patterns when nurses performed tasks that included all assigned patients. Another important finding concerns worksheets. Nurses use them during their whole shift to manage all relevant information in a concise way. Based on our findings, we suggest a CPR design which reflects the identified practices and should improve the acceptance of CPR systems in the demanding hospital environment.