title: Reactions of nurses to the use of electronic health record alert features in an inpatient setting.
abstract: While studies have been conducted to assess nurse perception of electronic health records, once electronic health record systems are up and running, there is little to guide the use of features within the electronic health record for nursing practice. Alerts are a promising tool for implementing best practice for patient care in inpatient settings. Yet the use of alerts for inpatient nursing is understudied. This study examined nurse attitudes and reactions to alerts in the inpatient setting. Focus groups were conducted at three hospitals with 50 nurses. Nurses were asked about five different alert features. For each alert, participants were asked about their feelings and reactions to the alert, how alerts help or hinder work, and suggestions for improvements. Findings include clear preferences for alert types and content. Nurses preferred a dashboard style alert with functions included to accomplish tasks directly in the alert. While nurses reported positive reactions to certain alert pages, they also reported low use of those features and occasional distrust of the data included in alerts. Findings provide guidance for future use of alerts and design of new alerts. Findings also identify the important challenge of designing and implementing alerts for integration with nursing workflow.
authors: Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Minneapolis, MN 55407-1321, USA. abbeysidebottom@allina.com
authors: Abbey C
authors: AC
authors: Sidebottom
authors: Beverly
authors: B
authors: Collins
authors: Tamara J
authors: TJ
authors: Winden
authors: Asha
authors: A
authors: Knutson
authors: Heather R
authors: HR
authors: Britt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D056902:Clinical Alarms; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D048108:Nursing Informatics; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult