Utilisation of electronic health record systems in clinical nursing practice in Ghana: predictors, benefits, and challenges

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BACKGROUND: The Electronic Health Record (EHR) system has been successfully utilised to ease the burden of the traditional paper-based recording system in healthcare. Health facilities in Ghana have been using EHRs in their service delivery over the past few years; however, the benefits and challenges of this innovation for nurses have not been assessed, even though nurses constitute a large proportion of health workers who utilise the system in their daily service delivery. AIM: The study aimed to assess the utilisation of EHR in relation to the predictors, benefits and challenges from the perspectives of nurses in healthcare facilities in Kumasi. METHODS: The study adopted a cross-sectional approach and used a multi-stage sampling method to select 176 respondents. With a validated questionnaire adapted from Venkatesh et al. data were collected and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at the 0.5 significance level. RESULTS: Fully functional EHR systems were in place at all centres, and nurses performed numerous nursing activities using them. Effort expectancy (β = 0.176), performance expectancy (β = 0.184), social influence (β = 0.185), and facilitating conditions (β = 0.189) significantly predicted the continuous use of EHR systems in hospitals. Nurses ranked the ease of retrieving patients' past medical records (RII = 0.868) as the highest benefit of the EHR system. In contrast, poor internet connectivity was ranked the highest challenge in the utilisation of EHRs (Kendall ranking = 9.81). CONCLUSION: It is recommended that robust EHR systems, improved internet connectivity, adequate ICT infrastructure, and continuous staff training and supervision be implemented in all hospitals in Ghana.