Essential Elements of Nursing Notes and the Transition to Electronic Health Records

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Essential Elements of Nursing Notes and the Transition to Electronic Health Records FEATURE: NURSING Essential Elements of Nursing Notes and the Transition to Electronic Health Records The Migration from Narrative Charting Will Require Creativity to Include Essential Elements in EHRs. By Marjorie M. Heinzer, PhD, PNP-BC, CRNP urses have told the patient’s story for KEYWords decades in the form of written narrative Charting, documentation, nursing care, computerization, nursing notes and the verbal shift report. electronic health record, EHR. N The advent of paper flow sheets and checklists over Abstract the past two decades streamlined the data record- Nursing notes have historically told the patient’s story of ing process for many specialty and acute-care nursing care during a hospital stay, but technology and units. However, improvements in computer tech- trends in healthcare require conversion of paper to electronic nology now support the implementation of clinical health records (EHR). The purpose of this study was to explore what clinical nurses believe are essential elements documentation and information systems across of nursing notes, ways that these data are documented and all healthcare disciplines. This move to computer- barriers to documentation. ized systems makes it necessary for nursing and This qualitative study used four focus groups. Twenty-four allied health professionals to reframe their think- registered nurses identified themes of evidence of care, quality issues, interaction patterns, clarification and the ing about recording the patient’s story. Commonly “picture” of the patient. held beliefs among some nurses, as explored in this Barriers to documentation were time, legal issues, study, are the need to tell the patient’s story, explain defensive charting, “sidebars” and family/patient behavior. the problems encountered and convey ideas that Findings suggest that the transition to EHRs will provide solutions to time-intensive charting and allow for detailed are not quantifiable for a computer entry system. task check-offs. However, psychosocial characteristics and Despite these beliefs, patients may be better served indirect care activities not quantified on checklists also are when nurses give up the written narrative chart- necessary for understanding the patient experience. The ing and invest their energies into electronic health migration from narrative charting will require creativity to include essential elements in EHRs. records (EHR). Complicating this transition are research studies that support conflicting beliefs and practices related to nursing documentation.1- 5 Nurses are reluctant to use computers because they feel that it will www.himss.org VOLUME 24 / NUMBER 4 n FALL 2010 n JHIM 53 2510_JHIM_Fall_COLOR.indd 53 9/23/10 12:38:37 PM either take them away from the bedside, or because conventional Walker and Selmanoff theorized that verbal communication with methods of charting are easier and more intuitive to use.2,6 handoffs, ongoing updates, and the shift report may have supple- Howse and Bailey reported that nurses, historically, have mented written documentation.11 resisted documentation and held negative views of charting.7 Nearly three decades later, Tapp conducted a grounded theory Tapp also described nurses’ views on the inhibitors to charting.8 study with registered nurses in a veterans hospital on the inhibi- Surprisingly, lack of computer literacy did not appear to be an tors and facilitators of nursing documentation. Findings sug- issue.9 The major barrier may be resistance to the idea of comput- gested that nursing lacked “a distinct professional identity and erized documentation systems. Such concerns provide an open language” (p 238) as perceived by the participants.8 area for research into the critical elements of the narrative nurs- Documentation was deemed inaccurate, incomplete and incon- ing note, one of the indicators of care given to patients. Although sistent, adding to its lack of credibility and value. Tapp found that fundamentals of nursing textbooks give guidelines for charting, accurate documentation was integral to defining clinical nursing research and theoretical essays on the content of the nursing note are nearly absent from published literature. The movement from a narrative system of charting to However, Saba and McCormick address an EHR system requires major changes in mindset, this theoretical perspective on nursing docu- mentation in their publication on nursing knowledge, performance and skills. informatics.10 These issues stimulated the following research questions: practice and substantiating that nursing care had occurred. Such 1. What do nurses believe are the essential elements of a nursing communication linked practice to both research and education. note? Brooks analyzed nursing documentation in terms of describing 2. What are the ways that nurses communicate their nursing work? the actual work of nursing and compared verbal descriptions of 3. What prevents nurses from documenting key issues in the care issues with the written documentation from the same patient patient chart? charts. She also found that nurses were struggling with challenges These questions framed a research project to translate the essen- in streamlining and condensing documentation in case-managed tial elements of a nursing note into a format suitable for inclusion systems and managed care environments. Her findings supported into an EHR. The researcher designed a qualitative study to iden- the need to investigate and refine nursing documentation practic- tify the essential elements of narrative nursing notes as described es to reflect and capture the holistic nature of nursing care.12 by registered nurses in the clinical setting and to explore the tran- The essential elements of nursing notes were rarely addressed sition of narrative notes to the EHR format. The study addressed in the clinical or research literature. References to the actual con- three research questions and focus group methodology was used tent of charting were related to the format of the nursing process to collect the data. categories or completed tasks. However, the identification of the essential elements of nursing care is important to the transition to BACKGROUND an EHR system. Clinical documentation across all disciplines, whether narrative, The movement from a narrative system of charting to an EHR computerized or a combination of both systems presents an ongo- system requires major changes in mindset, knowledge, perfor- ing challenge in healthcare. The terms charting, narrative charting, mance and skills.13 In addition, providing a translation of the nursing documentation, narrative notes and nursing notes are used required content areas and documentation needs is crucial to the interchangeably and may be regarded as identical in meaning. The planning and implementation of a high technology EHR system. change from narrative notes to EHRs is occurring now and directly affects the future of the healthcare system in the United States. This METHODOLOGY transition presents multiple challenges to health providers and the Qualitative research design uses language to explore meanings hospitals and clinics in which they are employed. rather than numerical or quantitative data. The researcher is The earliest published research on nursing notes dates to 1964, involved with participants who can provide narrative content to when Walker and Selmanoff reported the findings of their explor- explain their experiences with the topic and descriptions of situa- atory study of the nature and uses of the notes. Nurses considered tions. Focus groups are a qualitative method in which participants charting as an “instrumental function” of nursing (p 120) without respond to questions about their experiences. significant status. Furthermore, nurses’ notes were not deemed This study used focus groups of nurses to identify currently an effective means of communication among interdisciplinary held beliefs regarding the essential elements of nursing notes. As and multidisciplinary staff.11 a qualitative research method, focus group interviews provide a Walker and Selmanoff also noted that documentation of the venue for sensitive discussion of individuals’ beliefs, perceptions, patient’s care and progress by nurses, or the story of nursing care, and attitudes.14-15 The subjective nature of focus group methodol- was inadequate in quality and quantity. Nurses reported satisfac- ogy lends itself to exploring the beliefs and attitudes of profes- tion with the existing practice, even with minimal time spent in sional nurses who shared their experiences with colleagues in a charting and minimal content in the notes. However, omissions in comfortable, non-threatening environment. documentation were identified as a serious and frequent problem. Focus groups facilitators encourage participation and open dia- 54 JHIM n FALL 2010 n VOLUME 24 / NUMBER 4 www.himss.org 2510_JHIM_Fall_COLOR.indd 54 9/23/10 12:38:37 PM Table 1: Questions for Focus Groups. From Brooks, JT. An analysis of nursing documentation as a reflection of actual nurse work.Medsurg Nurs. 1998; 7(4):189-196. logue, clarify responses, and redirect to questions without influ- Board (IRB) approved the proposal. A research team composed of encing control or confirmation of their own personal beliefs.16 The the primary investigator, a nursing research council task force, and group interaction helps to clarify the views and meanings expressed two facilitators planned the implementation of the study. by individual participants in each session. The resultant
Recommended publications
  • Nursing Documentation in Clinical Practice
    From the Department of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Nursing Documentation in Clinical Practice Instrument development and evaluation of a comprehensive intervention programme Catrin Björvell Stockholm 2002 Nursing Documentation in Clinical Practice Instrument development and effects of a comprehensive education programme By: Catrin Björvell Cover layout: Tommy Säflund Printed at: ReproPrint AB, Stockholm ISBN 91-7349-297-3 NURSING DOCUMENTATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of thing. Machiavelli, The Prince Nursing documentation in clinical practice Instrument development and evaluation of a comprehensive intervention programme Catrin Björvell, Department of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse effects of a two-year comprehensive intervention concerning nursing documentation in patient records when using the VIPS model - a model designed to structure nursing documentation. Registered Nurses (RNs) from three acute care hospital wards participated in a two-year intervention programme, in addition, a fourth ward was used for comparison. The intervention consisted of education about nursing documentation in accordance with the VIPS model and organisational changes. To evaluate effects of the intervention patient records (n=269) were audited on three occasions: before the intervention, immediately after the intervention and three years after the intervention. For this purpose, a patient record audit instrument, the Cat-ch-Ing, was constructed and tested. The instrument aims at measuring both quantitatively and qualitatively to what extent the content of the nursing process is documented in the patient record.
    [Show full text]
  • The Benefits of Using Standardized Nursing Terminology
    Page 1 of 20 Selecting a Standardized Terminology for the Electronic Health Record that Reveals the Impact of Nursing on Patient Care By Cynthia B. Lundberg, R.N., BSN; SNOMED Terminology Solutions; Judith J. Warren, PhD, RN, BC, FAAN, FACMI; University of Kansas; Jane Brokel, PhD, RN, NANDA International; Gloria M. Bulechek, PhD, RN, FAAN; Nursing Interventions Classification; Howard K. Butcher, PhD, RN, APRN, BC; Nursing Interventions Classification; Joanne McCloskey Dochterman, PhD, RN, FAAN; Nursing Interventions Classification; Marion Johnson, PhD, RN; Nursing Outcomes Classification; Meridean Maas PhD, RN; Nursing Outcomes Classification; Karen S. Martin, RN, NSN, FAAN; Omaha System; Sue Moorhead PhD, RN, Nursing Outcomes Classification; Christine Spisla, RN, MSN; SNOMED Terminology Solutions; Elizabeth Swanson, PhD, RN; Nursing Outcomes Classification, Sharon Giarrizzo-Wilson, RN, BSN/MS, CNOR, Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses Citation: Lundberg, C., Warren, J.., Brokel, J., Bulechek, G., Butcher, H., McCloskey Dochterman, J., Johnson, M., Mass, M., Martin, K., Moorhead, S., Spisla, C., Swanson, E., & Giarrizzo-Wilson, S. (June, 2008). Selecting a Standardized Terminology for the Electronic Health Record that Reveals the Impact of Nursing on Patient Care. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 12, (2). Available at http:ojni.org/12_2/lundberg.pdf Page 2 of 20 Abstract Using standardized terminology within electronic health records is critical for nurses to communicate their impact on patient care to the multidisciplinary team. The universal requirement for quality patient care, internal control, efficiency and cost containment, has made it imperative to express nursing knowledge in a meaningful way that can be shared across disciplines and care settings. The documentation of nursing care, using an electronic health record, demonstrates the impact of nursing care on patient care and validates the significance of nursing practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Standard Nursing Terminologies: a Landscape Analysis
    Standard Nursing Terminologies: A Landscape Analysis MBL Technologies, Clinovations, Contract # GS35F0475X Task Order # HHSP2332015004726 May 15, 2017 Table of Contents I. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 4 II. Background ........................................................................................................ 4 III. Landscape Analysis Approach ............................................................................. 6 IV. Summary of Background Data ............................................................................ 7 V. Findings.............................................................................................................. 8 A. Reference Terminologies .....................................................................................................8 1. SNOMED CT ................................................................................................................................... 8 2. Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) ........................................................ 10 B. Interface Terminologies .................................................................................................... 11 1. Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System .................................................................................... 11 2. International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) ............................................................. 12 3. NANDA International
    [Show full text]
  • Practice Directive Documentation Standards
    Practice Directive Documentation Standards College of Registered Nurses of Prince Edward Island December 2020 Approved by CRNPEI Council Dec 10, 2020 Introduction The College of Registered Nurses of Prince Edward Island (CRNPEI) and the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Prince Edward Island (CLPNPEI) are legislated to serve and protect the public interest through the regulation of individual registered nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP) and licensed practical nurses (LPN). For the purposes of this document the term nurse(s), will refer to all three designations of nurses in Prince Edward Island. Nurses in Prince Edward Island are accountable to practice within their Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, and to meet established agency practice policies and procedures. As self-regulating professions, Nurses are regulated under the authority of the Prince Edward Island Regulated Health Professions Act (2013) and corresponding regulations, which outline the accountabilities and responsibilities of Nurses. This includes a Nurses’ legal responsibility to practice within their scope of practice and level of competence. Nurses must know what they are authorized and competent to perform, including any limitations in skill, knowledge, and judgement to ensure their practice is within their scope. Nursing documentation is a vital component of safe, ethical and effective nursing practice, regardless of the context of practice or whether the documentation is paper- based or electronic. Purpose The purpose of this practice directive is to set a standard for how nurses should document within their practice while remaining accountable to the CRNPEI Standards of Practice, and the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). This document describes nurses’ accountability and the expectations for documentation in all practice settings, regardless of the documentation method or storage.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 49. Documentation and the Nurse Care Planning Process
    Documentation and the Care Planning Process Chapter 49. Documentation and the Nurse Care Planning Process Gail M. Keenan, Elizabeth Yakel, Dana Tschannen, Mary Mandeville Background Tools are needed to support the continuous and efficient shared understanding of a patient’s care history that simultaneously aids sound intra- and interdisciplinary communication and decisionmaking about the patient’s future care. Such tools are vital to ensure that the continuity, safety, and quality of care endure across the multiple handovers made by the many clinicians involved in a patient’s care. A primary purpose of documentation and recordkeeping systems is to facilitate information flow that supports the continuity, quality, and safety of care. Since recordkeeping systems serve multiple purposes (e.g., legal requirements, accreditation, accountability, financial billing, and others), a tension has arisen and is undermining the primary purpose of the record and instead fueling discontinuity of care, near-misses, and errors. Among the more specialized types of documentation is the plan of care, a requirement of the Joint Commission.1, 2 Though planning and plans should facilitate information flow across clinician providers there is little generalizable evidence about their effectiveness. In the first part of this chapter, evidence from studies on nursing documentation, care plans, and interdisciplinary plans of care is presented and synthesized into a framework for the Hands- on Automated Nursing Data System (HANDS) method. The method is an intervention that addresses the need for broad-based standardization of key aspects of documentation and communication to facilitate patient-centric information flow. HANDS standardizes the plan of care documentation and processes by replacing the current widely variable forms.
    [Show full text]
  • Documentation Module
    Documentation Module 1 | Page Documentation May 2017 “If it wasn’t documented, it wasn’t done” Table of Contents About this Module/Overview/Objectives………………………………………Page 3 Pre-Test…………………………………………………………………………Page 4-5 Chapter 1………………………………………………………………………..Page 6- 7 Abbreviations Appropriate Use of Abbreviations Approved JCAHO “Do Not Use” List Chapter 2……………………………………………………………………….Page 7-8 Good Documentation Components Who, What, When, Where, How, Outcome, Follow-up, Accuracy, Objective Data vs. Subjective Data Chapter 3……………………………………………………………………..Page 9-11 Basic Rules of Documentation Documenting when it happens or as soon as possible Legal Implications: If it wasn’t documented, it wasn’t done State Regulations Related to Documentation Federal Regulations Related to Documentation Chapter 4…………………………………………………………………….Page 11-13 Best Practices 24 hour Communication Tool SBAR Report Chapter 5…………………………………………………………………….Page 13 Walking Rounds Ways to do them without overtime Seeing conditions of residents Chapter 6…………………………………………………………………….Page 14-21 Resources Documentation in-service Case Studies / Examples of documentation (or lack thereof) that lead to bad outcomes Electronic Health Records and Use of Electronic Signatures Sample Nurses Notes (Proper/Poor Documentation) 2 | Page Documentation May 2017 SBAR example About this Module: Documentation is a process of reporting and recording information used by health-care practitioners to aid in the directing of resident care based on decision making and continuity of care. Documentation is written evidence of: The interactions between and among health professional, clients, their families, and health care organizations. The administration of tests, procedures, treatments, and resident/family education. The result of, or resident response to diagnostic tests and interventions Documentation is a professional responsibility of all health-care practitioners; documentation provides written evidence of the practitioner’s accountability to the resident, institution, profession, and society.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 STAR Documentation
    5 STARR Documentation Components of a good eBridge Progress note & Guidelines for Nursing Documentation Liz Henderson, RN; Lillian Ananian, RN; Erin Cox, RN; Jen Clair, RN; Trish Zeytoonjian, RN; Shelly Stuler, RN; Annabaker Garber, RN, Melissa Lantry, RN General Purposes of documentation • Informs health care planning • Utilized for quality assurance/improvement • Influences allocation of resources S.T.A.R.R • Think about this with EVERY note you write: • S Source of truth • T Tell the Patient’s Story • AAccountability, Accuracy & Authorship • RReflect the nursing care YOU have provided • RResolve outstanding problems Source of Truth • The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is utilized by multiple disciplines caring for the patient and ultimately should accurately reflect individualized, patient-centered care • Documentation should reflect actual care that is provided to the patient • Information should be valid and reliable (Wang, Hailey & Yu, 2011) Tells the patient’s story • Reflects individualized patient care • Standardizes communication across providers Content of Documentation should include: • Diagnosis • Current problems • Nursing Interventions • Up-to-date assessments related to each problem • Outcomes • Resolution of active problems (Keenan, Yakel, Tschannen, & Mandeville, 2008) Professional accountability Provision 4 of the Code of Ethics for Nurses states that: “The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice..In each instance, the nurse retains accountability and responsibility for the quality of practice
    [Show full text]
  • Documentation Guidelines for Nurses
    DOCUMENTATION FOR NURSES Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Definition ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Professional Principles of Documentation .................................................................................................... 2 Confidentiality .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Why is Documentation Important? .............................................................................................................. 3 The Purpose of Nursing Documentation ................................................................................................. 3 Who Has a Role in Documentation? ............................................................................................................ 4 Firsthand Knowledge ............................................................................................................................... 4 Designated Recorder ............................................................................................................................... 4 Client or Family ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Students .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Documentation in Psychiatric Nursing
    International Journal of Health Sciences December 2014, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 99-101 ISSN: 2372-5060 (Print), 2372-5079 (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). 2014. All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijhs.v2n4a8 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/ijhs.v2n4a8 Documentation in Psychiatric Nursing Susan Anand1 Documentation is anything written or electronically generated that describes the status of a client or the services given to that client (1). In nursing practice, it is used to monitor a client’s progress and to communicate with other care providers; it also reflects the nursing care that is provided to a client (2). Thus regardless of the area of practice or whether it is paper-based or electronic, documentation is inevitable in nursing as it is essential for safe, ethical and effective nursing practice. Three common documentation methods are used namely - focus charting, SOAP/SOAPIER and narrative documentation. Flow sheets and checklists are also frequently used as an adjunct to document routine and ongoing assessments and observations. Purposes of Documentation in Psychiatric Nursing Practice It is a tool to enhance practice and patient care. Patient care documents are reliable, permanent records of client care which serve as basis for communication between health professionals. Documentation demonstrates professional accountability; it can be used for nursing audit and legal requirements. Further it provides a base for improving the quality of service and facilitates research and also provides a valuable source of evidence and rationale for funding and resource management. 1 MSc Nursing, M.Phil, PhD., Karnataka, India.
    [Show full text]
  • Improving the Quality of Electronic Documentation in Critical Care Nursing Brent Alan Stevens Walden University
    Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2017 Improving the Quality of Electronic Documentation in Critical Care Nursing Brent Alan Stevens Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations Part of the Library and Information Science Commons, and the Nursing Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Walden University College of Health Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral study by Brent Stevens has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Deborah Lewis, Committee Chairperson, Health Services Faculty Dr. Donna Schumacher, Committee Member, Health Services Faculty Dr. Jennifer Nixon, University Reviewer, Health Services Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2017 Abstract Improving the Quality of Electronic Documentation in Critical Care Nursing by Brent A. Stevens MSN, Walden University, 2012 Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice Walden University May 2017 Abstract Electronic nursing documentation systems can facilitate complete, accurate, timely documentation practices, but without effective policies and procedures in place, a gap in practice exists and quality of care may be impacted. This systematic review of literature examined current evidence regarding electronic nursing documentation quality.
    [Show full text]
  • Documentation in Nursing Practice Workbook | 1 PART 1 Workbook Activities 1 Workbook Activity #1
    BCCNM LEARNING MODULE — WORKBOOK Documentation In Nursing Practice 900 – 200 Granville St T: 604.742.6200 Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4 Toll-free: 1.866.880.7101 Canada bccnm.ca Introduction Introduction This workbook offers activities that allow you to apply ideas presented in the module. It is organized in four sections: Part 1 includes workbook activities that are related to various topic areas addressed in the learning mod- ule. As you work through the module, you will be directed to complete a specific workbook activity. Part 1 also includes pages for you to record your thoughts related to learning in this module. There are two pages: “Thoughts from Reflection Points” provides a space to jot down your thoughts related to “Reflection Points” included in the Module, while “Insights and affirmations” provides a space to note new insights related to your documentation practice. This information will be useful for you in completing your learning plan at the completion of this module. Part 2, “Applying My Learning”, includes case scenarios and associated questions. Completing the questions related to the cases provides an opportunity for you to apply all of the information that has been offered in the module in the context of practice-based scenarios. When you have completed the questions, you may wish to compare your responses with those provided in the “Applying my learning:Perspectives” located in Part 4. Part 3 This section of the workbook provides an opportunity for you to create a plan for your professional growth. A sample Learning Plan is provided to help you in this process.
    [Show full text]
  • NURSING DOCUMENTATION Clinical Policy and Procedure
    NOTE: The electronic version of this document or form is the latest and only acceptable version. You are responsible to ensure any printing of this document is identical to the e-version. NURSING DOCUMENTATION Clinical Policy and Procedure Approved: October 2015 Next Review: October 2018 Clinical Area: Inpatient units Population Covered: All bedded inpatients Campus: Ballard, Cherry Hill, Edmonds, First Hill, Issaquah Implementation Date: July 2010 Related Policies, Procedures, and Job Aids: Advance Directives and CPR Preference Fall Prevention Fall Prevention and Safety: Pediatric Nursing Documentation in the Emergency Department Pain Management Pain Management: Neonatal Patient Rights Skin Care: Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Management Purpose To outline the minimum documentation requirements for registered nurses (RN) caring for inpatients. Policy Statement RNs complete documentation on each patient as outlined in this procedure. Based on the patient’s condition, situation, and complexity, clinical judgment and critical thinking are employed to determine the need for additional data collection and/or more frequent monitoring and documentation. Assessments and interventions are completed before documentation. Swedish Medical Center accepts RN use of “Time Note Filed” functionality in Epic to reflect actual assessment time(s) if/when necessary. LIP Order Requirement None. Responsible Persons Registered nurse (RN). Prerequisite Information None. Clinical Policy/Procedure : NURSING DOCUMENTATION © 2016 Swedish Health Services Page 1 of
    [Show full text]