Evidence Based Research Report: CDSS Impact on Nursing Patient Care

This report provides an overview of the use of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in nursing, emphasizing their positive impact on patient care. The research highlights the benefits of using graphical displays for data sharing, leading to improved efficiency, documentation, and communication among healthcare professionals. The report discusses how CDSS tools enhance nurses' attention to patient data, improve information management, and facilitate patient-specific consultations. It also explores how these systems aid in preparing treatment protocols, confirming drug dosages, and reducing medication errors. Furthermore, the report references studies demonstrating the effectiveness of CDSS in improving decision-making, saving time, and addressing information overload. Overall, the report underscores the critical role of CDSS in enhancing the quality of care in healthcare settings.

Running Head: Evidence Based Research
Critical Appraisal
Evidence Based Research
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Evidence Based Research 2
Topic: Nurses using clinical decision support systems to better care for their patients
Use of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) improves the quality of patient care by
improving the efficiency, documentation and communication (Wong, Wu, Ting, Ho, Tong &
Cheung, 2015). One of the best practices that emerge from research on this context involves
using the graphic based displays as a means of information sharing in hospitals. A user friendly
graphical system is used to highlight the persisting trends which are important to make clinical
decisions.
The CDSS involves a ‘Comprehensive Graphic based Display’ of clinical pathology data of the
patient, accessible to the nurses and clinicians of concerned department (Shirts, Larsen &
Jackson, 2012). The nurses in each department are provided a graphic based computerized
system that shows the clinical data of patients based on laboratory results and pathological
assessments. This data is freely shared between the different departments. This strategy is highly
effective in improving the quality of care in community care settings and the hospitals.
The review finds out that this approach has been highly effective in improving the decision
making at situations where the time is limited. Primarily these types of CDSS tools emphasize on
improving the attention of nurses towards the patient data, information management (practice
guidelines and patient education material) and patient specific consultation.
This type of graphical display would suggest the nurses and the doctors, possible differential
diagnosis before their initial interaction with patient (Gebru, Yimam & Nigussie, 2015). It
would help the nurses prepare with updated protocols for treatment, they can confirm the
appropriate dosage on the basis of patient data and may suggest the alternatives of drugs
available in the hospital. With help of Electronic Health Records, the data of patients collected
by the hospital may be referenced to other patients for trend analysis.
Comprehensive and graphical display of patient data would provide the nurses with more rapid
assimilation and access to intended information. This approach allows the nurses and clinicians

Evidence Based Research 3
to take efficient clinical decisions without reviewing the bulky and large medical records of
histological, pathological and immunological laboratory data. These applications have been
found quite helpful for the nurses to prevent the errors in drug dosage and drug-drug interaction.
The graphic Systems equipped with Interaction warning Systems and Drug Prescribing Systems
for the identified disease, may reduce the adverse effect and dosage errors thereby enhancing the
quality of care. A prospective study showed 86% reduction in hazardous medication errors after
the implementation of graphic display and integrated multimedia systems (Nibbelink, Young,
Carrington & Brewer, 2018). The Systems also improve the productivity of nurses by saving the
time. The abnormal deviations of trends and lab findings would be highlighted. It would
definitely reduce the thickness of existing medical records, will improve the access to patient
data and information. It would improve clinical decision making while addressing the growing
information overload on the nurses and physicians.
References
Gebru,A.A., Yimam,Y.,& Nigussie,A.W.(2015). Clinical decision support system in nursing: A
review of literature. Indian Journal of Basic and Applied Medical Research; March
2015: 4(2), 437-452
Nibbelink, C. W., Young, J. R., Carrington, J. M., & Brewer, B. B. (2018). Informatics Solutions
for Application of Decision-Making Skills. Critical care nursing clinics of North
America, 30(2), 237–246. doi:10.1016/j.cnc.2018.02.006
Shirts,B.H., Larsen,N. & Jackson,B.R. (2012). Utilization and utility of clinical laboratory
reports with graphical elements. J Pathol Inform .2012(1), 3-26
Wong CM, Wu SY, Ting WH, Ho KH, Tong LH, Cheung NT (2015). An Electronic Nursing
Patient Care Plan Helps in Clinical Decision Support. Stud Health Technol
Inform. 2015 (1);216-945.