Developing a tissue donation advocacy program in a rural emergency department.

Although major strides have been made with regard to organ and tissue donation, there continues to be a lack of available donors. Currently more than 100,000 persons are awaiting a life-saving transplant, and 1 million others have conditions such as blindness, dermal burns, and malfunctioning heart valves that could be improved with a tissue transplant. Because approximately 40 persons can benefit from just one donor and because many families are comforted knowing that their loved one was able to help others in need, tissue donation efforts are a priority for health care professionals. A limited number of emergency departments across the United States have developed programs in which nurses introduce tissue donation to families after cardiac death occurs. The concept of emergency nurse-initiated tissue donation dialogues with family members is relatively new. As a result, few resources, literature, and programs are available, and thus guidance and support in the development of future programs are needed. This article discusses the development and implementation of a tissue donation advocacy program in a rural emergency department. Planning, training, and recommendations for others wishing to implement a similar program are highlighted. Preliminary outcome information and planned evaluations are included.

Computer literacy of nurses in a community hospital: where are we today?

BACKGROUND: As the use of electronic health records continues to grow, it is imperative that nurses gain competency and confidence with computers and computer software applications. METHODS: A descriptive study of licensed registered nurses at a community hospital was completed to measure self-perceived computer literacy. The Gassert/McDowell Computer Literacy Survey© was used. The Pearson correlation was used to assess for a relationship between year of birth and computer literacy scores. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to assess for a relationship between educational level and computer literacy scores. RESULTS: The nurses had little to no experience with nearly half of the items surveyed. A moderately positive correlation was seen between year of birth and computer literacy. The correlation between nurses' educational level and computer literacy was found to be statistically significant (p ≤ .05) CONCLUSION: Basic computer classes may be beneficial to nurses, with training focused on specific skills, such as bibliographic database searching, to improve evidence-based practice.

Perceived quality benefits influenced by usefulness and documentation accuracy of information systems.

In the technology-rich environment of healthcare, hospital documentation systems need to be developed so that quality benefits are realized and are more evident. The effects of nurses' perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and documentation accuracy on their perceptions of improved quality benefits from information systems were studied based on a proposed model. This model was developed from variables in both technology acceptance and healthcare literature. Usefulness and documentation accuracy of an information system were found to be highly influential in the nurses' perception of quality benefits from the system. System designers need to be keenly aware of nurses' need for useful and accurate systems so that quality benefits can be discovered. Further research is needed to more thoroughly explore the impact of technology on quality of care in nursing.

Computer literacy in baccalaureate nursing students during the last 8 years.

With the rapid integration of information technology in the healthcare field, equipping nurses with skills to effectively use the technology is vital. Evaluations of nursing students' nursing informatics competencies are scarce in nursing programs as reported in the literature. The current study was implemented to evaluate the self-reported nursing informatics competence of undergraduate baccalaureate students upon admission and graduation in the years from 1997 to 2005 and to compare the differences between admission and graduation. The Gassert/McDowell Computer Literacy Survey was used to survey 411 students on admission and 429 students on graduation from a baccalaureate nursing program. Results showed a significant increase during the 8-year period, both on admission and graduation, for reported level of experience with word processing, electronic mail, and World Wide Web. Areas of less experience that did not increase significantly were spreadsheet experience, database experience, and use of statistical programs. The nursing informatics competencies established for beginning nurses include databases, spreadsheets, word processing, presentation graphics, and keyboard skills. The results of this study indicate nursing education programs currently may not be providing beginning nurses with the tools needed to effectively and efficiently work in the technology-rich healthcare arena.