Effects of Applying Paper- Based Versus Electronic Nursing Process on Quality of Care among Nursing Students

Background: Using thinking-based scientific methods such as paper-based and electronic nursing processes in nursing education can lead to education of skilled and efficient experts that can affect students’ satisfaction in addition to their quality of care. The present study aimed to compare the effects of recording and implementing the nursing process based on two methods (paper-based and electronic) on the quality of patient care and nursing students’ satisfaction. Methods: This randomized-field trial was conducted in 2014 on 64 nursing students that were randomly assigned into two groups of paper-based and electronic nursing process. The intervention included a one-day training on the nursing process and then its implementation on patients using the two mentioned methods during two weeks of internship. Quality of care was measured through a researcher-designed care quality questionnaire before and after the intervention. Students’ satisfaction with the implementation of the nursing process was measured through a researcher-designed students’ satisfaction questionnaire after the intervention.  Results: The mean (±standard deviation) score of students’ satisfaction in the paper-based nursing process and the electronic process was 37.3±4.7 and 68.9±14.2, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.015). After the intervention, the mean score of care quality in the electronic group was 46.9±5.6 and the mean score of the paper-based group was 39.9±9.2. This difference was also statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Since electronic nursing process can increase quality of care and students’ satisfaction more than the paper-based method, the use of electronic method may facilitate the implementation of the nursing process and change education and care giving from traditional forms to a thinking-based approach. Therefore, it is recommended to pay more attention to such method in planning nursing education.