Evidence in the palm of your hand: development of an outcomes-focused knowledge translation intervention.

AIM The aim of the project was to develop an electronic information gathering and dissemination system to support both nursing sensitive outcomes data collection and evidence based decision making at the point of patient care BACKGROUND With the current explosion of health related knowledge it is a challenge for nurses to regularly access information that is most current The Internet provides timely access to health information however nurses do not readily use the Internet to access practice information because of being task driven and coping with heavy workloads Mobile computing technology addresses this reality by providing the opportunity for nurses to access relevant information at the time of nurse patient contact METHOD A cross sectional mixed method design was used to describe nurses requirements for point of care information collection and utilization The sample consisted of 51 nurses from hospital and home care settings Data collection involved work sampling and focus group interviews FINDINGS In the hospital sector 40 of written information was recorded onto personal papers at point of care and later transcribed into the clinical record Nurses often sought information away from the point of care for example centrally located health records or policy and procedure manuals In home care documentation took place in clients homes The most frequent source of information was nurse colleagues Nurses top priorities for information were vital signs data information on intravenous IV drug compatibility drug references and manuals of policies and procedures IMPLICATIONS A prototype software system was designed that enables nurses to use handheld computers to simultaneously document patients responses to treatment obtain real time feedback about patient outcomes and access electronic resources to support clinical decision making CONCLUSION The prototype software system has the potential to increase nurses access to patient outcomes information and evidence for point of care decision making