Undergraduate senior nursing students’ experiences with electronic health records

Abstract

Electronic health records (EHRs) can be used to improve patient care and outcomes. Preparing undergraduate nursing students with health information technologies (HIT) competencies is needed to transition nursing students to the work force. Technology advancements have impacted the way nursing students are educated. Many education institutions use academic EHRs and simulation as tools to develop Health information technology (HIT) skills in students. The challenge with hospital-based EHRs is that institution EHRs follow institution guidelines and protocols customized for that institution. This can create challenges and barriers for nursing faculty, students, and the University to provide adequate EHR training and to develop HIT skills. This study explored nursing students’ experiences when using an EHR at different clinical sites. In this study, Colaizzi’s methodology was used to develop themes and patterns about nursing students’ experiences with EHRs and utilized Edmund Husserl’s descriptive phenomenological approach. Husserl’s philosophical approach allows discovery of senior nursing student’s thoughts, ideas, and experiences about using an EHR that leads to a better understanding of how nursing students use an EHR in clinical settings. Nursing students need to be able to use electronic tools efficiently within the EHR to locate and use data effectively when caring for patients. Understanding the nursing students’ experiences with EHR can give insight into different teaching strategies and interventions that can improve training and experiences during clinical rotations.