Nurse Motivation, Engagement and Well-Being before an Electronic Medical Record System Implementation: A Mixed Methods Study

Rebecca M. Jedwab, Alison M. Hutchinson, Elizabeth Manias, Rafael A. Calvo, Naomi Dobroff, Nicholas Glozier and Bernice Redley
Additional contact information
Rebecca M. Jedwab: Monash Medical Centre Clayton, Monash Health Digital Health Division, Nursing and Midwifery Informatics, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia
Alison M. Hutchinson: Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research—Monash Health Partnership, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia
Elizabeth Manias: Faculty of Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC 3125, Australia
Rafael A. Calvo: Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2DB, UK
Naomi Dobroff: Monash Medical Centre Clayton, Monash Health Digital Health Division, Nursing and Midwifery Informatics, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia
Nicholas Glozier: Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Medicine, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
Bernice Redley: Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research—Monash Health Partnership, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: Implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR) is a significant workplace event for nurses in hospitals. Understanding nurses’ key concerns can inform EMR implementation and ongoing optimisation strategies to increase the likelihood of nurses remaining in the nursing workforce. This concurrent mixed-methods study included surveys from 540 nurses (response rate 15.5%), and interviews with 63 nurses to examine their perceptions of using a new EMR prior to implementation at a single healthcare organisation. Survey findings revealed 32.2% ( n = 174) of nurses reported low well-being scores and 28.7% ( n = 155) were experiencing burnout symptoms. In contrast, 40.3% ( n = 216) of nurses reported high work satisfaction, 62.3% ( n = 334) had high intentions of staying in their role, and 34.3% ( n = 185) were engaged in their work. Nearly half ( n = 250, 46.3%) reported intrinsic motivation towards EMR use. Thematic analysis of focus group interviews revealed two themes, each with three subthemes: (1) Us and Them , detailed the juxtaposition between nurses’ professional role and anticipated changes imposed on them and their work with the EMR implementation; and (2) Stuck in the middle , revealed nurses’ expectations and anticipations about how the EMR may affect the quality of nurse-patient relationships. In conclusion, anticipation of the EMR implementation emerged as a stressor for nursing staff, with some groups of nurses particularly vulnerable to negative consequences to their well-being.

Keywords: nursing; nursing workforce; electronic medical record; motivation; work engagement; well-being; burnout; health communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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