On Patient Accessible Electronic Health Records and the Experienced Effect on the Work Environment of Nurses

The work environment for nurses is challenging, and even though new technology has major advantages, it has often also caused new stressors and problems for nurses. When Patient Accessible Electronic Health Records (PAEHR) was introduced in Sweden, research showed that nurses were worried about possible negative effects for patients as well as on their work. However, to this date there are very few follow up studies on the more long term effects of PAEHR, despite research pointing to the fact that reactions after long term use might differ from initial experiences. In this paper we present an interview study to fill this research gap. An analysis based on interviews with physicians and nurses in Oncology care reveals three areas where nurses' work is experienced to have been affected: 1) nurses receive more questions from patients after PAEHR has been introduced, 2) nurses have changed their documentation practices and 3) the log list functionality has made nurses feel questioned. Finally, these results are discussed in relation to nurses' work environment from a sociotechnical and gender perspective.