Changes in intensive care unit nurse task activity after installation of a third-generation intensive care unit information system

• HIT Description: Intensive care unit (ICU) information system. More info...
  
• Purpose of Study: Evaluate the percentage of time that ICU nurses spend on documentation and other nursing activities before and after installation of a third-generation ICU information system.
  
• Years of study: Not Available
  
• Study Design: Pre-post time-in-motion
  
• Outcomes: Impact on health care access
  

• Settings: ICU nurses participated in this study, which took place in a ten-bed surgical ICU at a Veterans Affairs medical center.
• Intervention: Third-generation ICU information system.
• Evaluation Method: Measure of percentage of time spending on documentation, providing direct patient care, and doing patient assessment.
• Description: : The ICU information system was installed in June 2000. The system had stations located in each patient's room, it displayed physiologic information as well as laboratory information; it also had an admission/discharge/transfer tracking system, and a flow sheet, and nursing assessment form.
• Barriers: An ICU information system may not decrease documentation time if the staff has not been trained and educated adequately, or if they are not motivated to use the system.
• Changes in efficiency and productivity: The percentage of time spent on documentation decreased from 35.1 +/- 8.3% to 24.2 +/- 7.6% (p =.025) after the ICU information system was installed. The percentage of time providing direct patient care increased from 31.3 +/- 9.2% to 40.1 +/- 11.7% (p =.085). The percentage of time doing patient assessment, a direct patient care task, increased from 4.0 +/- 4.7% to 9.4 +/- 4.4% (p =.001).