Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
Volume 21, Issue E2, Pages E249-E256Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1136/amiajnl-2013-002615
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective Critical care environments are information-intensive environments where effective decisions are predicated on successfully finding and using the 'right information at the right time'. We characterize the differences in processes and strategies of information seeking between residents, nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician assistants (PAs). Method We conducted an exploratory study in the cardiothoracic intensive care units of two large academic hospitals within the same healthcare system. Clinicians (residents (n=5), NPs (n=5), and PAs (n=5)) were shadowed as they gathered information on patients in preparation for clinical rounds. Information seeking activities on 96 patients were collected over a period of 3 months (N-Res=37, N-NP=24, N-PA=35 patients). The sources of information and time spent gathering the information at each source were recorded. Exploratory data analysis using probabilistic sequential approaches was used to analyze the data. Results Residents predominantly used a patient-based information seeking strategy in which all relevant information was aggregated for one patient at a time. In contrast, NPs and PAs primarily utilized a source-based information seeking strategy in which similar (or equivalent) information was aggregated for multiple patients at a time (eg, X-rays for all patients). Conclusions The differences in the information seeking strategies are potentially a result of the differences in clinical training, strategies of managing cognitive load, and the nature of the use of available health IT tools. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of these differences on clinical and process outcomes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available