Data warehouse approach to nursing management.

Aim: This article describes a data warehouse approach when designing an information system to meet nursing management needs in acute hospital setting.

Background: The rapidly changing health care environment has created new challenges for nursing leaders and requires appropriate, accurate and timely data for decision-making.

Method: Key aspects of current information needs were identified by a nursing expert group. A data warehouse-based Nursing Management Information System was produced and piloted in nine wards. A survey and interviews were conducted to evaluate the piloting.

Results: Data from the patient administrative system together with nursing rostering data and measures for nursing care intensity brought new opportunities for nursing management.

Conclusions: A Nursing Management Information System is suggested to be built using data warehouse model. Successful implementation of a Nursing Management Information System requires systematic data quality checks. An information analyst is essential for interpreting and communicating nursing data to multi-professional management groups.