Electronic Health Records and Patient Safeety: Nurse Practitioners’ Experiences in Clinical Practice

Authors

Lindsay Dixon, Brigham Young University
Karen Whitt, Brigham Young University

Keywords

electronic health records, patient safety, clinical practice, nurse practitioner

College

Nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to evaluate practicing nurse practitioners’ experiences and satisfaction with electronic health records (EHRs). In response to health policy initiatives and incentives, many healthcare organizations in the U.S. have recently implemented EHRs in clinical practice. Despite expectations that EHRs can improve patient safety, there is evidence that EHRs have the potential to contribute to adverse patient events and medical errors. Therefore, an urgent need to improve the safety of EHRs has been recognized. In June 2015, a study was conducted by Dr. Karen Whitt that invited nurse practitioners to share their experiences and satisfaction with EHRs. More than 300 different EHRs are utilized by healthcare organizations and each EHR is extremely different. The aim of this descriptive study was to evaluate nurse practitioners’ experience and satisfaction with EHRs and to describe problems encounters with EHRs in clinical practice and the impact on patient safety.

Recommended Citation

Dixon, Lindsay and Whitt, Karen (2017) "Electronic Health Records and Patient Safeety: Nurse Practitioners’ Experiences in Clinical Practice," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2017: Iss. 1, Article 270.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2017/iss1/270