Improving nurse documentation and record keeping in stoma care

Evidence suggests that nurse documentation is often inconsistent and lacks a coherent and standardized approach. This article reports on research into the use of nurse documentation on a stoma care ward in a large London hospital, and explores the factors that may affect the process of record keeping by nursing staff. This study uses stoma care as a case study to explore the role of documentation on the ward, focusing on how this can be improved. It is based on quantitative and qualitative methods. The medical notes of 56 patients were analysed and in addition, focus groups with a number of nurses were undertaken. Quantitative findings indicate that although 80% of patients had a chart filed in their medical notes, only a small portion of the form was completed by nursing staff. Focus group findings indicate that this is because forms lacked standardization and because the language used was often ambiguous. Staff also felt that such documentation was not viewed by other nurses and so, was not effective in improving patient care. As a result of this study, significant improvements have been made to documentation used on the stoma care ward. This is an important exploration of record keeping within nursing in the context of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's emphasis on the importance of documentation in achieving effective patient outcomes.