PRSB echoes call for electronic standards for nurses

The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) has echoed the call for nurses to have a shared electronic language.

It comes after NHS Digital’s chief nurse Anne Cooper told Digital Health News that it was ‘quite important’ for nurses to have their own standards and mentioned how the PRSB could be drafted in to help.

The organisation, which is funded by NHS Digital to develop clinical standards for health and care records, said it supports health professionals who wish to create a system that makes it easier for teams to communicate with each other and with patients themselves.

The PRSB chair, professor Maureen Baker said their mission is to help nurses (and all other health and social care professionals) to understand that standards are more than a compliance issue.

“As Anne Cooper rightly points out, they are an integral part of patient care and safety,” Baker said.

Baker also hinted that the PRSB is already working with the nursing community.

“The Royal College of Nursing is one of our members, and the organisation has been active in sharing our messages with professionals in its network,” she said.

“We also meet regularly with Dave O’Carroll, programme manager (information and resources) at The Royal College of Nursing, who is the PRSB’s advisory board representative for the college.”

On a separate issue, Baker said that since the body was founded in 2013, the PRSB has developed toolkits and undergone visits to those on the frontline to help implement such standards across health and social care.

“We recognise that trusts and organisations are at different stages of digital maturity, and we are developing our implementation advice and support accordingly,” Baker said.

The PRSB was introduced to ensure that there are consistent standards for care records.

Baker recently laid out her vision for the PRSB and why standards need to be set.

“I really hope to get the message over to clinical and care communities that this is important work that will make a difference to them, to the patients and hopefully they will support and then indeed use the standards we set.”