News: EHRs causing significant burnout among nurses, report suggests

Approximately a third of nurses experiencing symptoms of burnout cited electronic health records (EHR) as a contributing factor, a new report suggests.

The recent KLAS Research report surveyed nurses from across the country, garnering a total of 75,000 respondents. According to KLAS, “[e]ven though nurse satisfaction with health records has increased over the past three years,” nurses “still report insufficient training and system reliability problems that could contribute to burnout.”

The report also gathered a number of other responses regarding EHRs and their effects on nursing. Here are some highlights from the survey:

• 40% of those citing EHRs as a contributing burnout factor were “likely to leave their organization” within the next two years.
• 65% of survey respondents said they didn’t feel as though they “had a voice” in EHR modification, with 39% even stating that they don’t feel as though they can “ask for fixes.”
• Approximately 40% of survey respondents reported that their EHR training was “insufficient,” with 32% saying the training wasn’t specific to their workflow.
• 67% of respondents disagreed that recent upgrades improved their EHRs, with more than 70% saying EHR optimizations weren’t “delivered quickly enough.”

Editor’s note: To read the KLAS Research report, click here. To read the Healthcare Dive coverage, click here.