Information Needs Across Health Care Settings

The study describes the clinical and continuing care data and information registered nurses communicate,the coordination mechanisms they use and prefer,and the interdependencies involved in coordinating patient care across different health care settings. Self report questionnaires and a Focus Group were used to collect data from 24 registered nurses,including data and information about 92 patients in transition among different health care settings.Findings demonstrate the process of asking RNs about their data and information needs is effective and yields substantive results. Results indicate medical,clinical nursing care,continuing care,and psychosocial data and information are relevant to the management of care. The findings emphasize the data and information that RNs communicate and exchange varies by health care setting and with patient s severity of illness. RNs in the home health setting indicate they would like more and different clinical nursing care data than hospital nurses as they coordinate the care of patients in transition. Mechanisms and preferences to communicate and exchange data and information are related to the health care setting.