Abstract:

Introduction:
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are relevant and influential in different fields related to health sector. Health systems in many countries are taking out the implementation of ICT tools, and have opened a new perspective in the integration of all patient health information. The electronic health record is the basis of the information register that allows access to patient health data at anytime, anywhere. The role of nurse is essential because she records and manages health information and patient data and can improve continuity of care, opening a new perspective on managing information and enabling the use of data for health research to improve patient care.
ICT are emerging as critical in a difficult medical environment, with a demographic, social welfare and increasing complexity and difficulty that the health system is equitable, accessible and sustainable. In order to obtain the key points for a better training and education for a better implementation of ICT a qualitative study with nurses at University of Barcelona was conducted.

Study:
The objective of this study was to analyze the use that nurses make of electronic health records (EHR) and to evaluate their perception in a qualitative perspective.
The study was developed in 15 primary care practices in Barcelona, Spain. The sampling technique has been convenience. Participants were 113 nurses in primary care practices who had used EHR. Inclusion criteria were nurses with at least 6 months experience on the use of EHR prior to data collection, and exclusion criteria were nurses’ traineeship post-graduates.
Variables studied were EHR usability, registration of nurses in the EHR, continuity of care and socio-demographic variables: age, sex and time that the nurse has been working with EHR. These items were rated with in-depth interviews and focus groups by the research team.

Results:
Results show that nurses agree that EHR provides continuity of care, but are not very convinced of the usefulness of EHR towards registration of care.

Conclusions:
Results show positive perception of nurses around the continuum of care provided by the EHR. The main limitation is that results can’t not be extrapolated to other health scenarios.
Information Communication Technologies, and more specifically EHR, should enable nurses to provide and exchange information and thus to track the patient's care, with consequent positive impact on clinical practice.

Keywords:

Nursing, primary care, information and communication technology, electronic health record, continuity of care and usability.