Curricular Path to Value: Integrating an Academic Electronic Health Record

Regulatory mandates consistently focus on quality, safety, and improving patient care as better evidence surfaces. One of those mandates is the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) across all patient care settings. New graduate nurses must know how to access patient data and document and synthesize patient information accurately to plan safe, quality care and mitigate potential errors.

In an undergraduate nursing program, the objectives were to provide faculty with simple teaching strategies that promoted ease of integrating an academic EHR (AEHR) across a curriculum, as well as to steadily increase students' use of an AEHR.

Faculty stressed an appreciation for having a supportive environment with an innovative way to educate nursing students. Students' feedback and course evaluations were positive, with students noting that they enjoyed learning in a different way.

Faculty should continue to share their innovative teaching strategies for AEHR integration. Further research should include measurable outcomes of integrating an AEHR throughout a curriculum. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):716-719.].