Evidence-based Use of Electronic Clinical Tracking Systems (ECTS) to Meet Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies: An Integrative Literature Review

Branstetter, M. Laurie

Monday, 18 November 2013

M. Laurie Branstetter, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC¹
Lynette Smith, PhD, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC²
Andrea Brooks, MSN, FNP-BC¹
(1)School of Nursing, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
(2)College of Health and Human Services, School of Nursing, DNP Program, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

Learning Objective 1: The learner will interpret and discuss evidence-based use of ECTS to meet National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) core competencies.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will interpret and discuss the gap in the evidence-based literature related to informational technology in APRN education.

Over the past decade, the federal government has mandated health care providers incorporate electronic health records into practice by the year 2015. The creation of this technological update in healthcare documentation has generated a need for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) programs to incorporate informational technology into education. The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) guides the program standards for APRN education (Thomas et al., 2012). The NONPF core competencies include informational technology as an entry into practice requirement upon graduation from an APRN programs. Educational programs have moved towards the utilization of Electronic Clinical Tracking System (ECTS) to capture students’ clinical encounter data. The purpose of this integrative review was to address evidence-based educational utilization of ECTS for the evaluation of APRN curriculum outcome goals as defined by NONPF standards. The current state of the science depicts student and faculty attitudes, preferences, and opinions along with data stratification of students’ clinical encounter demographics. However, a gap in the literature was identified. Although educational programs were utilizing ECTS to track students’ clinical encounters, ECTS was not evaluated for meeting NONPF standards in program outcomes. Therefore, future research studies are needed to support evidence-based utilization of ECTS in graduate nursing education to meet NONPF core competency standards.

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