Norwegian hospital nurses' satisfaction with the electronic patient record and associations with informational continuity during shift changes

Abstract

Electronic patient records are of importance to health care providers to ensure informational continuity. Here, we present a cross-sectional study in which 5455 nurses from 35 Norwegian hospitals answered a questionnaire in relation to a study of how their work environment - including satisfaction with the electronic patient records system in use - impacted patient safety. The survey data was analysed to test whether satisfaction with the patient records system varied between different groups of nurses, and to assess the association between satisfaction with the electronic patient records system and the nurses' perception of informational continuity. We found group-wise differences that indicate that the electronic patient records systems could be improved, in addition to an association between satisfaction with the system and perceived informational continuity that confirms the role of electronic patient record systems in patient safety efforts.