title: Evaluation of Nursing Documentation Completion of Stroke Patients in the Emergency Department: A Pre-Post Analysis Using Flowsheet Templates and Clinical Decision Support.
abstract: The primary aim of this performance improvement project was to determine whether the electronic health record implementation of stroke-specific nursing documentation flowsheet templates and clinical decision support alerts improved the nursing documentation of eligible stroke patients in seven stroke-certified emergency departments. Two system enhancements were introduced into the electronic record in an effort to improve nursing documentation: disease-specific documentation flowsheets and clinical decision support alerts. Using a pre-post design, project measures included six stroke management goals as defined by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and three clinical decision support measures based on entry of orders used to trigger documentation reminders for nursing: (1) the National Institutes of Health's Stroke Scale, (2) neurological checks, and (3) dysphagia screening. Data were reviewed 6 months prior (n = 2293) and 6 months following the intervention (n = 2588). Fisher exact test was used for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was found for documentation of five of the six stroke management goals, although effect sizes were small. Customizing flowsheets to meet the needs of nursing workflow showed improvement in the completion of documentation. The effects of the decision support alerts on the completeness of nursing documentation were not statistically significant (likely due to lack of order entry). For example, an order for the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was entered only 10.7% of the time, which meant no alert would fire for nursing in the postintervention group. Future work should focus on decision support alerts that trigger reminders for clinicians to place relevant orders for this population.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Riverside Health System (Ms Richardson); Bon Secours Health System (Ms Sengstack and Mr Schertz); Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital (Mr Doucette); Duke Center for Health Informatics (Dr Hammond); Duke University School of Nursing (Drs Thompson and Johnson). The authors have disclosed that they have no significant relationship with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this article.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sengstack
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Doucette
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schertz
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Constance
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016529:Emergency Nursing; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D048108:Nursing Informatics; D009737:Nursing Records / Q000592:standards*; D012985:Software Design; D020521:Stroke / Q000451:nursing*