Use of Electronic and Paper-based Standardized Nursing Care Plans to Improve Nurses' Documentation Quality in a...

To evaluate the effect of electronic and paper-based standardized nursing care plans (SNCPs) use on quality of nurses' documentation.

Using quasi-experimental design, two wards were grouped into electronic and paper-based wards. Nurses were trained to use electronic- and paper-based SNCPs for care-planning and documentation. Data was collected before, 3, and 6 months postintervention and analyzed with SPSS version 20.

There was improvement in documentation quality in the two wards after introducing SNCPs with higher quality scores in the electronic ward postintervention.

Providing SNCPs in electronic and paper formats is critical to improving nursing documentation.

Adequate training and support for nurses are needed for successful implementation of SNCPs in electronic health records (EHRs) in developing nations.