Omvårdnadsdokumentation : granskning av omvårdnadsjournaler inom psykiatrisk slutenvård

Sammanfattning: Background Swedish nurses are required by law to document nursing care. Studies have proved scarce in nursing documentation with regard to written language, the nursing process and the nurse´s caring perspective. Educating nurses in using the VIPS model have improved nursing documentation. Few studies have included nursing documentation of psychiatric care. Aim The aim of this study was to describe nursing documentation within psychiatric care of inpatient settings. Method A quantitative, retrospective descriptive research design was applied. A total of 60 nursing journals from a psychiatric department of six wards were studied. Data was audited using the Cat-ch-Ing audit instrument that comprises 22 questions reflecting various issues relating to the VIPS model and the nursing process. Measurements of quantity and quality were evaluated for each question using a 4-point scale. Results The nursing documentation showed a better quantity and quality at the patients’ admission for care than the remaining documentation, long duration of hospital stay indicated better quantity of documented nursing diagnoses and nursing interventions, all of the wards showed a poorly quantitative documentation of status after admission for care as well as nursing care plans. Conclusion The nursing documentation within psychiatric care of inpatient settings of one department showed an inadequate documentation of nursing both quantitatively and qualitatively. The nursing care of the patient was neither described nor evaluated. Clinical implications The results suggest that strategies for improving nursing documentation will be needed in the future. In addition, further education in using the VIPS fully can be a means to enhance the nurses’ documentation.