Technology for Patient Safety, User Efficiency and Satisfaction

Background:  Minnesota State Board of Nursing statute number 148.235 Subdivision 8. Prescription by protocol and Subdivision 9. Vaccine by protocol discusses nurse protocol use and legally dictates the necessary components of a Nurse Protocol.  The Board of nursing suggests that vaccines with different schedules, ages, or dose indications need to have separate protocols.  During the development of 20 vaccine protocols for a large tertiary clinic, it became evident that the current tool used for the documentation of protocols was inefficient, inconsistently transcribed and potentially frustrating for the user. 

Setting:  Ambulatory Care - Outpatient Clinic

Population: Nurses administering vaccines

Project Description: This presentation will demonstrate the collaboration of computer programer, nursing, physician and systems and procedures personnel.  The presentation will feature the archaic tool originally used and the program developed to improve patient safety, user efficiency and satisfaction, and standardize protocol use and documentation.

Results/Lessons Learned:  The electronic documentation tool must be programatically designed to allow ease of protocol additions and modifications as new vaccines are added and new ACIP recommendations announced.   New electronic documentation tools require education for the nurse with consideration of a variety of learning styles and preferences.  The nurse must have resources to support their learning, have questions answered in a timely manner and the ability to practice prior to putting into patient care use.  The tool needs to be easy to navigate and complete to promote nurse's comfort and confidence in use, since the tool is intended to be used real-time with the patient to obtain the safety feature and intended time saving benefits.