Software for primary healthcare in a developing country. Background and problem statement.
Nurses in primary healthcare (PHC) clinics carry a heavy administrative burden, much of which can be computerized. Advantages and disadvantages of computerization and issues related to patient records and other requirements of computerized systems are well documented. However, not much attention has been given to users' needs in PHC environments in developing countries. Users in township areas have very specific needs because of a lack of previous exposure to computers and a reluctance to change working habits. Some general software requirements that system developers should consider are discussed.
Modern treatment of critically ill patients generates large volumes of electronic physiological data. Trusting this data is important: along with being used for medical decision making, the data is often stored for offline ::: analysis. However, data recording errors are common. These can be caused by medical and nursing interventions. We describe the study of missing data collected from automated patient monitoring equipment in the neurointensive care ::: unit (NICU).