Nurse information needs for efficient care continuity across patient units

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Healthcare Communication
• Patient Care Coordination

Background:

• Continuity of care is essential but can be hindered by fragmented patient data across diverse nursing units.
• Efficient patient transfers are critical in large medical centers, with an average of 3750 monthly transfers.
• Existing information systems may not fully integrate data from all nursing settings, impacting care continuity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify nurses' communication processes during patient handoffs.
• To determine the specific content needs of nurses when receiving patients across various specialties.
• To explore the implications for information systems and cost-benefit analyses in healthcare settings.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among 197 registered nurses.
• Participants represented diverse nursing settings: perioperative, intensive care, medical-surgical, outpatient, acute psychiatric, and long-term care.
• Data collected focused on communication processes and information content needs during patient transfers.

Main Results:

• Certain assessment data are universally valued by nurses across all specialties.
• The importance of specific patient information varies significantly based on nursing specialty practice.
• Identified gaps in current information systems regarding comprehensive patient data integration.

Conclusions:

• Tailoring information systems to specialty-specific needs can enhance patient handoff communication.
• Integrating comprehensive patient data across all nursing units is crucial for cost-effective continuity of care.
• Findings provide a basis for improving healthcare information systems and planning patient transfer protocols.