What Is Kardex Nursing Technology? Overview and FAQ

Nurses juggle various care tasks throughout their day, from administering medications to drawing blood samples for lab tests. Without a way to organize information about each of their patients, it can be difficult to keep track of what needs to be done and when. Through the use of kardex, nursing professionals can streamline their workflow to promote more efficient care delivery.

But what exactly is kardex and why should facilities be aware of it? We’ll provide an overview of what this mode of documentation is and how it can be electronically adapted to improve your nursing staff’s delivery of care.

What Is Kardex in Nursing?

Kardex is a documentation system that enables nurses to write, organize, and easily reference key patient information that shapes their nursing care plan. In a historical context, kardex refers to a brand of index cards that nurses used to hand-write patient information prior to the adoption of standardized charting systems. These cards would be stored in an accessible and central location for nurses to reference as they carried out their patient care tasks.

While index cards are rarely used now, the term kardex carries over to present day. Now, it more broadly refers to any type of platform — both paper and electronic — that nurses use to condense physician orders and medical histories into pinpointed information about daily nursing care.

What Information Is Included on the Kardex?

A kardex is essentially a care plan chart or template that’s uniquely used by and for nurses. Because of this, nurses should have ownership of the information that is added or removed, based on what is most helpful for patient care delivery.

The information that a nurse chooses to organize on a kardex will depend on the type of facility they work in and their patient assignments. This typically includes information that shapes the nursing SBAR framework of care, such as:

• Patient code status
• Diagnoses and allergies
• Diet and ADL requirements
• IV sites and daily labs
• Scheduled medications
• Recommended care tasks
• Family contact information

However, a patient’s care plan can change throughout a nurse’s shift. Doctors may place new orders, or a patient’s condition can worsen or improve. Because of this, it’s important for kardex tools to be easily accessible and allow for quick reorganization of information if needed.

How Does Electronic Kardex Technology Work?

While some facilities still use paper-based templates, it’s becoming increasingly common to adopt electronic versions of kardex nursing tools. This may have you wondering — is kardex part of medical record systems? It can be, but not always. Typically, an electronic kardex (also known as e-kardex) can be adopted through three different methods:

• Electronic health record (EHR) integration — Some IT vendors can add a kardex module to the existing EHR systems at a facility. This would allow staff to directly access a generated nursing care plan in each patient’s medical chart.

• Application programming interfaces — Facilities can opt to purchase kardex applications that open separately from the EHR, but still interact with medical charts to automatically fill in information about a patient’s care plan.

• Stand-alone application platforms — Other kardex applications are entirely separate from EHR systems, neither integrating nor interacting with patient charts. This typically requires more manual input of patient information using organized fields.

Unlike medical records, the information on a kardex is designed to be altered throughout the day. Depending on the type of e-kardex incorporated into a facility’s systems, some may be more templated than others. Fundamentally, though, an effective system should enable nurses to easily edit and access snapshots about their patient’s care during their shifts.

What Are the Benefits of Using Electronic Kardex?

By using electronic kardex, nursing professionals can enhance their overall workflow. Paper-based kardex can be more difficult to organize, leading to increased errors or obstacles in obtaining necessary information on a whim. On the contrary, e-kardex can:

• Decrease documentation burden — Hand-writing information can be time consuming. By utilizing an all-in-one application that helps gather essential information, nurses no longer have to worry about manually organizing their daily care plans.

• Increase efficiency and accuracy — Electronic kardex are easy to read and access. Nurses can simply navigate to the patient they’re seeking information on and read an overview of what needs to get done. This eliminates the need to sort through papers or decipher hard-to-read handwriting on paper-based templates.

• Improve quality of care — More easily accessible information and less documentation means that nurses can spend quality time at the patient’s bedside. Additionally, e-kardex can facilitate patient hand-offs since nurses can continue editing and referencing care plans directly on the computer.

• Streamline point of care (POC) services — Having a kardex that is electronically accessible also opens up opportunities to improve point of care service delivery. For instance, some facilities may adopt mobile computers or tablets that nurses can use to reference a kardex right at the patient’s bedside.

Optimize the Workflow of Your Nursing Staff

Through adopting an electronic kardex, nursing staff can be enabled to deliver higher quality care. Don’t miss out on other practical tips to streamline the workflow at your facility and stay informed through IntelyCare’s free newsletter.