Standardised electronic information exchange between nurses in home care and GPs - the medication information...

Improving the transfer of medication information between home care nurses and patient's general practitioners (GP) is assessed as essential for ensuring safe care. In this paper, we report on a Norwegian study in which we investigated how home care nurses experienced using standardised electronic messages in their communication with the GPs. Standardised electronic solutions were developed and implemented to resolve gaps in the medication information processes when patients received nursing care in their homes. Data was collected combining focus group interviews and individual interviews with nurses from home care in two municipalities in Norway. The data was analysed using systematic text condensation. We found that the nurses reported mostly advantages, but also some disadvantages regarding accuracy, consistency, availability and efficiency in the medication information process when they used standardised electronic messages. Efforts to refine the electronic messages to achieve better work processes and patient safety should be addressed.