Nursing Reports, Vol. 15, Pages 369: Nurses’ Adoption, Perceived Usability, and Satisfaction with an Updated Electronic Handover Page Within the Electronic Medical Record: A Mixed-Methods Study

Nursing Reports doi: 10.3390/nursrep15100369

Authors:
Rebecca Miriam Jedwab
Anthony T. Pham
Yixin Qu
Rebecca Brook
Joanne Foster
James-Norbert Garduce
Siwen Li
Jane M. Smith
Naomi Dobroff

Background/Objective: Clinical handover of patient information is a key component of patient care in hospitals. Nurses use a structured framework to minimise communication errors. Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems can support patient safety and clinical handover with contemporaneous documentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses’ adoption, perceived usability, and satisfaction with an updated handover page within the EMR. Methods: A pre-post mixed-methods study across a large Australian tertiary healthcare organisation examined handover page adoption using data from the EMR, and perceived usability and satisfaction were measured using a survey (handover page updated in EMR on 23 September 2024). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted for quantitative data, and content analysis was used for qualitative data. Results: Adoption of the handover page was not statistically significant post-update (Wilcoxon signed-rank test z = −1.376, p = 0.169). Improved usability of the updated handover page post-update was demonstrated by a statistically significant decrease in the need to navigate away from the page to find relevant clinical information during handover (Fisher’s Exact Test p = 0.042). Nurses’ satisfaction increased, indicated by statistically significant increases in two items of the End User Computing Satisfaction Scale (precise information (Mann–Whitney U = 963.50, p = 0.040); and sufficient information (Mann–Whitney U = 927.50, p = 0.034)). Free-text comments indicated adoption and acceptability of the updated handover page by nurses, although a gap remains in the practice process. Conclusions: A co-designed solution to update the handover page within the EMR had good usability and satisfaction among nurses. Updates or implementations to digital health technologies must be continuously evaluated by specialist informatics teams to ensure appropriate adoption, usability and satisfaction by nurses, and positive repercussions for patient safety.

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Rebecca Miriam Jedwab www.mdpi.com