Analysis of Pathways Influencing the Quality of Nursing Documentation Practice in Central Java Province of Indonesia

Abstract

Incomplete and poor-quality nursing documentation can negatively impact patients and nurses; therefore, finding the root causes of poor-quality nursing documentation is essential. This study aims to analyse the pathways affecting the quality of nursing documentation to identify the root of the existing problems. This study was an analytic observational study with a cross-sectional study design. The research was conducted at two regional general hospitals in Banyumas and Purbalingga districts, Central Java Province, Indonesia; 128 nurses in the inpatient rooms participated. Their age, gender, education, work experience, workload, nurse fatigue, and the quality of nursing documentation were observed and assessed directly and analysed using a path analysis method. The results found that 46.9% of nursing documentation was of poor quality. It was found that the nurses' workload and nurse fatigue directly affected the quality of nursing documentation (t>1.96; P<0.05). The quality of nursing documentation was also indirectly influenced by gender and work experience through the intervening variables of workload and job fatigue (t>1.96; P<0.05). This study concludes that workload is felt heavier in female nurses with extended work experience; this causes job fatigue, which impacts the poor quality of nursing documentation.