The state of academic EHR adoption
The push to incorporate EHRs into nursing curricula is gaining momentum, but there is still a significant gap to close. Research shows that a minority of nursing programs have fully integrated formal EHR education. However, studies also highlight the clear benefits for programs that do, including enhanced student confidence, improved documentation skills, and a reduction in clinical errors.
Successful adoption hinges on several key factors:
- Faculty champions who advocate for change
- Strong administrative and technological support
- Dedicated faculty training and development
- Sufficient funding and resources.
When these elements are in place, the benefits are transformative for students, faculty, and future employers.
The importance of pre-graduation EHR experience
While today's nursing students are often digitally native, the specific demands of EHR documentation are not intuitive. This is especially concerning given that nurses spend 26-41 percent of their time on documentation, according to a time-motion study. Expecting new graduates to master this complex skill during on-the-job training is a flawed strategy, particularly when only 25 percent of nurses report receiving adequate EHR training from their employer. These findings highlight the urgent need to make EHR competency a core part of pre-licensure nursing curricula, ensuring nurses can focus more on patient care and less on administrative tasks.
An EHR is a legal document. Students must be familiar with standard protocols and best practices for recording and managing sensitive patient information in a safe, structured environment. Preparing students with these foundational skills sets them up for immediate success. Research demonstrates that even first-year students who engage in repeated documentation practice show increased confidence and knowledge. This exposure also sharpens critical thinking, communication, and patient care skills — all key priorities of a robust nursing education.
Shifting training from employer to educator
The healthcare industry is in constant evolution, and nursing educators are at the forefront of preparing a workforce ready for these changes. The responsibility for foundational EHR training should not fall solely on clinical agencies. It is difficult for employers to provide standardized training across the board, putting patient safety and organizational goals at risk.
By integrating EHR education into the curriculum, nursing programs can set a high standard for charting competence and analytical skills. This approach alleviates a significant burden from healthcare organizations and allows students to learn in a safe, controlled setting. The result is a graduate who is not only familiar with EHR technology but also confident in their ability to use it to provide high-quality care.
This proactive approach produces nursing graduates who can immediately contribute to improved patient safety and help decrease organizational training costs. While on-site training will always be necessary to familiarize nurses with facility-specific systems, academic EHR education bridges the critical gap in informatics skills and enhances workforce readiness.
Lippincott DocuCare: The leading solution for EHR training
To be a positive influence in the career development of future nurses, programs need a reliable and realistic training solution. Lippincott® DocuCare® is the leading academic EHR designed to enhance clinical learning by contextualizing realistic patient care scenarios with hands-on documentation.
Its intuitive educational experience lets faculty interact with students, track their progress, and focus teaching strategies using powerful evaluation tools, pre-populated cases, and a unified simulation experience. By incorporating DocuCare into your curriculum, you provide students with the practice-ready skills they need to excel.
