USING COMPUTERIZED CLINICAL NURSING DATA-BASES FOR NURSING RESEARCH

Computerized clinical nursing data bases (CCNDBs) have significant pot ential as sources of data for research on the processes and outcomes o f nursing care. The emergence of nurse-managed practice sites, in whic h patient care is driven predominately by nurses' decisions, has promp ted renewed interest in using data from these practices to answer ques tions that are important to nurses. The purpose of this article is to articulate strategies for using CCNDBs for nursing research. Recogniti on of the differences between clinical and research data bases is esse ntial. The steps involved in obtaining and using computerized clinical data can be grouped into three phases: (1) locating and accessing CCN DBs, (2) assessing the content and quality of the data, and (3) extrac ting and analyzing the data. Processes involved in phase 1 include det ermining the research question, identifying eligible CCNDBs, negotiati ng access to the CCNDB, and ensuring the privacy and confidentiality o f subjects. In phase 2 the processes include determining the content o f the candidate CCNDBs, assessing the quality of the data in candidate CCNDBs, and determining the technical usability of data in candidate CCNDBs. Phase 3 involves mapping CCNDB data elements to research varia bles; determining data and record selection criteria; writing and impl ementing a query to select the desired records; designing a data base and record structure for research variables; performing analytic proce dures on the research data; and reporting results of the research. Pha ses and procedures are discussed in detail in the article. Copyright ( C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company.