Practicum Project: Improving Healthcare Documentation Speed
This paper describes a practicum project focused on implementing a new information system in a healthcare organization to address deficiencies in documentation speed and patient charting. A needs assessment identified core workflow problems, prompting a proposal for improved nursing informatics. The methodology combined qualitative focus groups with mixed-methods research, guided by the American Nursing Informatics Association and informed by frameworks from Currie (2005) and usability criteria from Moghaddasi et al. (2017). Both formative and summative evaluations were applied throughout the project. Results demonstrated significant speed increases in patient data processing and improved workflow, with positive feedback from nursing staff.
- Overview and Needs Assessment: Project goals and identified documentation problems
- Methodology and Research Design: Focus groups, frameworks, and mixed-methods approach
- Evaluation and Findings: Formative and summative results showing speed gains
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly connects a real organizational problem — slow documentation and charting — to a structured, evidence-based intervention, making the rationale for the project immediately credible.
- References established frameworks (Currie, 2005; Moghaddasi et al., 2017) and a professional body (American Nursing Informatics Association) to anchor methodology in authoritative sources.
- Uses both formative and summative evaluation strategies, demonstrating methodological rigor and an understanding of how to assess projects at multiple stages.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively integrates a needs assessment with a mixed-methods research design, showing how qualitative findings from focus groups can drive the selection and configuration of an information system. This approach — moving from diagnosis to design to evaluation — is a hallmark of applied informatics and health services research.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized in three functional stages: (1) problem identification through a needs assessment, (2) methodology including focus groups, professional consultation, and framework selection, and (3) evaluation and results showing measurable improvements in speed and workflow. This linear, project-report structure suits the practicum format and makes the logic of the intervention easy to follow.
Overview and Needs Assessment
This practicum project focuses on new information systems used in a healthcare organization. A needs assessment revealed problems with the speed of documentation and patient charting. After reviewing the results of the needs assessment, a new information system was proposed based on the need to enhance the speed of documentation and patient charting at the health facility. The goals for the practicum project included improving workflow, integrating information and knowledge management systems, and streamlining the ways nurses input, manage, and retrieve data.
Methodology and Research Design
The methodology used for the practicum included qualitative analyses using focus groups to determine how to best design the informatics solution and integrate it into the existing workflow. Consultations with the American Nursing Informatics Association helped to guide the design of the mixed-methods research. Objectives were derived from prior research into improving healthcare informatics, revealing the need for "nursing documentation… principles of nursing informatics, data protection and security, and quality assurance and quality management" (Egbert, Thye, Hackl, et al., 2018, p. 1).
Evaluation frameworks were derived from those used by Currie (2005). Likewise, the Moghaddasi, Rabiei, Asadi, et al. (2017) usability criteria were used for systematic evaluations of the information systems. Both summative and formative evaluations were used and applied throughout the implementation of the project.
References
Currie, L. M. (2005). Evaluation frameworks for nursing informatics. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 74(11–12): 908–916.
Egbert, N., Thye, J., Hackl, W., et al. (2018). Competencies for nursing in a digital world. Methodology, results, and use of the DACH-recommendations for nursing informatics core competency areas in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 27(2018): 1–25.
Moghaddasi, H., Rabiei, R., Asadi, F., et al. (2017). Evaluation of nursing information systems: Application of usability aspects in the development of systems. Healthcare Informatics Research, 23(2): 101–108.
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