Electronic Health Records and Medication Errors - A Nursing Perspective: A Descriptive Literature Review
Azmi, Adhila; Dampella Gamachchige, Gansala Navodi; Wahumpurage, Harshani Samanthika (2023)
2023
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023112732083
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023112732083
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Background: The electronic health record is a digitalised system that is maintained by healthcare personnel in the collection of patient history and treatment plans. The use of electronic health records has an impact on patient safety and level of care. However, the incidence of medication errors has increased. Therefore, since nurses are primary users of the electronic health record system, it is essential to review their experiences during its use.
Purpose and Aim: The purpose of this literature review was to describe the relationship between medication errors and the use of electronic health records from a nurse’s perspective. The aim was to provide knowledge to nurses that help identify areas that need to be improved between the nursing role and the use of electronic health records.
Methods: The data was collected from MEDLINE, PubMed and CINAHL based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search generated 559 articles initially through the keyword search. 42 articles were included based on title and 24 were chosen based on their abstract. 15 of these articles were excluded and nine were selected for the review. The selected articles were analysed by applying inductive content analysis.
Results: The results of the nine articles demonstrated that the experiences of nurses using the electronic health record system were more negative than positive. Factors such as technical limitations, environmental restrictions, poor technical literacy and irregularities with data accuracy and quality contributed to the occurrence of medication errors.
Conclusion: Electronic health records have a positive and negative impact on medication errors. However, a majority of findings suggest that electronic health records do not always reduce medication errors. To minimise these medication errors, the perspectives
of nurses and their clinical environment should be considered.
Keywords:electronic health records, medication errors, nurses, registered
nurses, patient health records, electronic medical records, and drug administration errors
Purpose and Aim: The purpose of this literature review was to describe the relationship between medication errors and the use of electronic health records from a nurse’s perspective. The aim was to provide knowledge to nurses that help identify areas that need to be improved between the nursing role and the use of electronic health records.
Methods: The data was collected from MEDLINE, PubMed and CINAHL based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search generated 559 articles initially through the keyword search. 42 articles were included based on title and 24 were chosen based on their abstract. 15 of these articles were excluded and nine were selected for the review. The selected articles were analysed by applying inductive content analysis.
Results: The results of the nine articles demonstrated that the experiences of nurses using the electronic health record system were more negative than positive. Factors such as technical limitations, environmental restrictions, poor technical literacy and irregularities with data accuracy and quality contributed to the occurrence of medication errors.
Conclusion: Electronic health records have a positive and negative impact on medication errors. However, a majority of findings suggest that electronic health records do not always reduce medication errors. To minimise these medication errors, the perspectives
of nurses and their clinical environment should be considered.
Keywords:electronic health records, medication errors, nurses, registered
nurses, patient health records, electronic medical records, and drug administration errors