Knowledge Translation in Nursing Through Decision Support at the Point of Care

Abstract

With advances in electronic health record systems and mobile computing technologies it is possible to re-conceptualize how health professionals access information and design appropriate decision-support systems to support quality patient care. This chapter uses the context of nursing-sensitive patient outcomes data collection to explore how technology can be used to increase nurses’ and other health professionals’ access to patient outcomes information in real time to continually improve patient care. The chapter draws upon literature related to: (1) case-based reasoning, (2) feedback, (3) and evidence-based nursing practice to provide the theoretical foundation for an electronic knowledge translation intervention that was developed and tested for usability. Directions for future research include the need to understand how nurses experience uncertainty in their practice, how this influences information seeking behavior, and how information resources can be designed to support real-time clinical decision making.