Enhancing nursing practice by utilizing voice recognition for direct documentation.

Innovative strategies that preserve nursing time for direct patient care activities are needed. This study examined the utility, feasibility, and acceptability of voice recognition (VR) software to document nursing care and patient outcomes in an electronic health record in a simulated nursing care environment. A phase 1 trial included 5 iterative experiments with observations and nurse participant feedback to allow enhancements to the speech detection capabilities and refinement of the technology, software, and processes. Utility ratings improved over time; however, interference on nursing care remained a concern throughout. Nurse participants favored keyboard entry electronic health record, largely due to software and technical issues, but also relative to the culture shift the new technology brings to nursing practice. Successful adoption of VR technology by nursing will be dependent on receptiveness of the nurses and perceived benefits, timely access to education and training, and minimization of barriers to using the software.

Use of healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) to quantify risks of the human milk feeding process.

The complexity of the expressed breast milk feeding process in the neonatal intensive care unit was not fully appreciated until we used a healthcare failure mode and effect analysis. This approach identified latent risks and provided semiquantitative estimates of the effectiveness of recommendations. Findings demonstrated nursing interruptions and multitasking requirements contributed to risk, emphasizing the need for focused and isolated expressed breast milk handling to improve patient safety and outcomes.

The validity of validation: A practical assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the time to achieve reliable reporting of electronic health record data compared with manual reporting during validation. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of aggregate data for number of patients present, number of patients with a central venous catheter, and number of patients with an indwelling urinary catheter during validation of an electronic health record reporting tool. SETTING: Mayo Clinic Health System in Wisconsin. PARTICIPANTS: Mayo Clinic infection prevention and control staff, unit champions, and all inpatients. METHODS: We simultaneously collected electronic and manual counts of device data and compared discrepancies to determine their source. If manual data entry was incorrect, manual counts were coded as inaccurate. If electronically abstracted data did not reflect an accurate count, errors were attributed to the system. Data were compared using standard statistical methods. RESULTS: Within 30 days after beginning validation of electronic reporting for central venous catheter days and urinary catheter days, electronic counts were durably more reliable than manual counts. CONCLUSIONS: Manual validation for capturing and reporting electronic data and reporting can be shorter than the 90 days currently mandated by National Healthcare Safety Network criteria. Compared with a longer validation period, a shorter validation period may yield substantial savings while achieving the same validity.

Improving Orientation Outcomes: Implementation of Phased Orientation Process in an Intermediate Special Care Nursery.

In response to changing needs of registered nurse orientees, the staff education committee in the Intermediate Special Care Nursery has implemented a phased orientation process. This phased process includes a mentoring experience postorientation to support a new nurse through the first year of employment. Since implementing the phased orientation process in the Intermediate Special Care Nursery, orientee satisfaction and preparation to practice have increased, and length of orientation has decreased.