User-Centered Design Practices to Redesign a Nursing e-Chart in Line with the Nursing Process.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Nursing Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Electronic health records (EHRs) require usability improvements for quality nursing care.
• Joint Commission accreditation necessitates adherence to patient safety standards.
• User-Centered Design (UCD) is a key methodology for evaluating EHR usability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To redesign the nursing e-chart user interface using UCD practices.
• To enhance the quality of nursing process records.
• To meet Joint Commission accreditation requirements for patient safety.

Main Methods:

• Applied standardized UCD practices for usability evaluation.
• Adapted Virginia Henderson theoretical model and patient safety standards.
• Conducted 5 iterative cycles of incremental improvements, developing prototypes.

Main Results:

• Achieved usability goals through iterative prototype development.
• General care nurses perceived the redesigned interface as satisfactory.
• Successfully balanced nurses' needs with institutional requirements.

Conclusions:

• UCD practices effectively improved nursing e-chart usability and record quality.
• Nurse involvement in UCD is crucial for successful EHR implementation.
• The redesigned system supports enhanced patient safety and accreditation compliance.