Association Between Nurses' Digital Competence and the Quality of Electronic Nursing Documentation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The digital transformation of healthcare has made electronic nursing documentation a cornerstone of safe, high-quality patient care. However, the quality of documentation depends significantly on nurses' digital competence, which remains inadequately assessed in Pakistani healthcare settings. Inadequate digital skills may compromise documentation accuracy, completeness, and timeliness, potentially affecting patient safety and continuity of care. To assess the association between nurses' digital competence and the quality of electronic nursing documentation at a tertiary care cardiac hospital in Multan, Pakistan

Methods: A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design was employed. A total of 220 nurses were recruited from the Multan Institute of Cardiology using convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Digital Competence Questionnaire for Nurses (DCQ) and a validated Electronic Nursing Documentation Quality Audit Tool. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis using SPSS version 26.0.

Results: The mean digital competence score among nurses was 2.82 ± 0.68 (out of 5), with 74.5% (n = 164) demonstrating moderate to low competence. The mean documentation quality score was 68.4 ± 14.2 (out of 100), with only 31.8% (n = 70) achieving high-quality documentation. A significant positive correlation was found between digital competence and documentation quality (r = 0.58, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression revealed that digital competence significantly predicted documentation quality (β = 0.52, p < 0.001), explaining 27.5% of the variance after controlling for age, education, and experience (R² = 0.275, F = 20.64, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: A significant positive association exists between nurses' digital competence and the quality of electronic nursing documentation. Enhancing nurses' digital skills through structured training programs is recommended to improve documentation quality and patient safety outcomes.