A tool to measure nurses’ perceptions of electronic documentation: Exploratory factor analysis

Background and Purpose. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have been widely adopted in US hospitals. EHRs have changed workflow and time allocation and have broad impacts on staff. We adapted an existing instrument to measure nurses’ perceptions of a newly adopted EHR. Methods. The 11-item survey was administered to approximately 500 registered nurses in a mid-sized regional hospital in western US, with 153 responses received. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) assessed the factor structure and Cronbach’s α estimated internal consistency. Results. A 3-factor model was retained through the EFA, and items were internally consistent (Cronbach’s alpha for each subscale >.80). Conclusions. Survey adaptation was iterative and resulted in a psychometrically sound and thematically relevant measure of nurses’ EHR perceptions. Next steps include further psychometric evaluation and testing with additional samples.