An educational intervention impact on the quality of nursing records

Exploring the influence of nursing diagnosis education on Romanian nurses' intention, attitudes, and behavior: a cross-sectional study

Background and aims

The introduction of accreditation criteria for hospitals has generated increased interest in applying the nursing process to clinical practice and developing nursing care plans. Nursing diagnosis plays a pivotal role in the formulation of these care plans.The objective of the study is to investigate the correlation between nursing diagnosis education and nurses' intentions, attitudes toward the use of nursing diagnosis and the behavior in using it in practice; to explore the differences between nurses' intentions, attitudes and behavior, considering nurses' socio-demographic and professional data.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was used. A web-based survey was applied to gather data. A sample of 664 hospital nurses was recruited from five Romanian hospitals.

Results

Education on nursing diagnosis showed significant results in relation to nurses' intentions (F(2,126.35) = 23.99, p < 0.001), attitudes (χ2 (2, N = 664) = 44.62, p < 0.001) and behavior (F(2,167.69) = 29.53, p < 0.001) in using it in clinical practice. Nurses with education highly focused on nursing diagnosis have significantly stronger intention to use it, more positive attitudes and higher behavior in using it in clinical practice compared to nurses whose education simply had included a nursing diagnosis course, or nurses without any education on the topic. Significant differences were identified in intention (t (83.86) = -4.49, p < 0.001) and attitudes (U = 12697.50, z = -3.99, p < 0.001, r = -0.0006) of management nurses compared to clinical nurses.

Conclusion

Nursing education on nursing diagnosis significantly impacts nurses' intentions, attitudes, and behavior in their daily practice. Romanian nurses display slightly positive intention and attitudes toward nursing diagnosis but need more training for effective/practical clinical application.

Strategies to Improve Compliance with Clinical Nursing Documentation Guidelines in the Acute Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review and Analysis

Introduction

This systematic review attempts to answer the following question - which strategies to improve clinical nursing documentation have been most effective in the acute hospital setting?

Methods

A keyword search for relevant studies was conducted in CINAHL and Medline in May 2019 and October 2020.Studies were appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal for quasi-experimental studies. The studies were graded for level of evidence according to GRADE principles.The data collected in each study were added to a Summary of Data (SOD) spreadsheet. Pre intervention and a post intervention percentage compliance scores were calculated for each study where possible i.e. (mean score/possible total score) × (100/1). A percentage change in compliance for each study was calculated by subtracting the pre intervention score from the post intervention score. The change in compliance score and the post intervention compliance score were both added to the SOD and used as a basis for comparison between the studies. Each study was analyzed thematically in terms of the intervention strategies used. Compliance rates and the interventions used were compared to determine if any strategies were effective in achieving a meaningful improvement in compliance.

Results

Seventy six full text articles were reviewed for this systematic review. Fifty seven of the studies were before and after studies and 66 were conducted in western countries. Publishing dates for the studies ranged from 1991 to 2020.Eleven studies included documentation audits with personal feedback as one of the strategies used to improve nursing documentation. Ten of these studies achieved a post intervention compliance rate ≥ 70%.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the limitations of this study, it may be that documentation audit with personal feedback, when combined with other context specific strategies, is a reliable method for gaining meaningful improvements in clinical nursing documentation. The level of evidence is very low and further research is required.

Quality of the documentation of the Nursing process in clinical decision support systems

OBJECTIVE

to compare the quality of the Nursing process documentation in two versions of a clinical decision support system.

METHOD

a quantitative and quasi-experimental study of the before-and-after type. The instrument used to measure the quality of the records was the Brazilian version of the Quality of Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes, which has four domains and a maximum score of 58 points. A total of 81 records were evaluated in version I (pre-intervention), as well as 58 records in version II (post-intervention), and the scores obtained in the two applications were compared. The interventions consisted of planning, pilot implementation of version II of the system, training and monitoring of users. The data were analyzed in the R software, using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS

the mean obtained at the pre-intervention moment was 38.24 and, after the intervention, 46.35 points. There was evidence of statistical difference between the means of the pre- and post-intervention groups, since the p-value was below 0.001 in the four domains evaluated.

CONCLUSION

the quality of the documentation of the Nursing process in version II of the system was superior to version I. The efficacy of the system and the effectiveness of the interventions were verified. This study can contribute to the quality of documentation, care management, visibility of nursing actions and patient safety.