EHR In Nursing Practice

There is no denying that the role of a bedside nurse is changing dramatically in this immensely submerged technical century. Patients have enough anxiety and concern about their health care needs. Meeting the team of healthcare professionals in an unfamiliar setting can be intimidating enough. Today with technology, introducing the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) in the healthcare environment it is important to remain intact with caring, as much as it is to be diligent while documenting a patient's care plan. A nurse should always make the patients feel cared for regardless of all the new technology in the room. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has greatly promoted health care agencies to participate and utilize EHRs (Winstanley, 2014, p.62.). This act enforces nurses to take on more challenges at the bedside and incorporate nursing care improvement just the same, if not better.

However, learning it involves adequate time, patience and education. Since electronic charts are fairly new to the health care culture, it takes time for nurses to learn how to correctly input data effectively, correctly and quickly. These EHRs have meaningful use and serve two purposes: they document patients progress and they contribute to the hospitals data set (Winstanley, 2014, p.62). Also, financially they permit desired outcomes within all healthcare institutions. They are here to stay which is why it is a priority to become accustomed to and be comfortable for