Nurses' Experiences of an Initial and Re-Implemented Electronic Health Record Use

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a key component of healthcare information systems (HISs). In EHR implementation, smooth adoption can streamline nursing activities. In order to explore the adoption process, a qualitative study design and focus group interviews were conducted 3-month post and two years after EHR system implementation (system aborted one year in between) in one hospital located in Taiwan. Content analysis was performed to analyze the interview data and six main themes were derived, in the first stage: 1) liability, work stress and anticipation for EHR, 2) slow network speed and user unfriendly design, 3) insufficient information technology/organization support; on the second stage: 4) getting used to EHR and further system requirements 5) benefits of EHR in time saving and documentation 6) unrealistic IT competence expectation and future use. It concluded that user friendly design and support by information technology and manpower backup would facilitate this adoption process.