Electronic Medical Records
Electronic medical records (EMRs) and electronic health records (EHRs) can enhance nursing practice by improving documentation, coordination of care, and patient safety. Unfortunately, they also bring challenges such as workflow disruptions, decreased patient interaction, deskilling nursing care, minimizing professional judgement and clinical decision-making, and cybersecurity risks.
Hospital administrators and insurance providers may promote EMRs as a magic bullet for patient care. But nurses must be wary of this. While EMRs may save money and have the potential to advance care, they also fundamentally undermine nursing skills. Instead of relying on their judgement and nursing practice experience, EMRs require nurses to mechanically input patient data in a way that promotes checking boxes over meeting a patient’s individual needs.
The standardization and routinization of nursing practice have the potential to turn nursing care into an assembly line. In theory, technological advancements in healthcare should be tools that help caregivers deliver quality care. In practice, they are instruments that help hospital administrators put management control over nursing practice and expertise and profit before patient care.
Check out this resource on electronic medical records to learn more.