Nurse's use of power to standardise nursing terminology in electronic health records.

AIMS: To describe nurses' use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about nurses' potential use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records.

METHODS: The theory of group power within organisations informed the design of the descriptive, cross-sectional study used a survey method to assess nurses' use of power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. The Sieloff-King Assessment of Group Power within Organizations(©) and Nursing Power Scale was used. A total of 232 nurses responded to the survey.

RESULTS: The mean power capability score was moderately high at 134.22 (SD 18.49), suggesting that nurses could use power to achieve the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. The nurses' power capacity was significantly correlated with their power capability (r = 0.96, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Nurses may use power to achieve their goals, such as the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse administrators may use their power to influence the incorporation of standardised nursing terminology within electronic health records. If nurses lack power, this could decrease nurses' ability to achieve their goals and contribute to the achievement of effective patient outcomes.