In the last decade, the United States experienced the greatest number of targeted
cyberattacks in the world and the healthcare industry became the most ransomware targeted
industry in the country. Mobile devices infected with malware pose a security threat and may
allow cybercriminals to exploit corporate servers, medical databases, and gain unauthorized
access to protected health information (PHI). The consumers of healthcare services are
frequently offered an easy and convenient way to access their electronic health records (EHR)
online, however, they are not being educated as to how to perform this task safely. The
identified practice-knowledge gap stems from the lack of awareness of the essential
cybersecurity principles in keeping personal and mobile devices safe when accessing PHI. The
focus of this DNP project was on quality improvement (QI) using a synthesis of the evidencebased guidelines issued by the cybersecurity branch of the federal government and private
enterprises in the same field of study. The DNP project objectives were two-fold: the first
objective was to train registered nurses (RN) and patients about the basic cybersecurity
principles in keeping personal and mobile devices safe when accessing PHI and EHR online; the
second objective was to incorporate an evidence-based cybersecurity awareness toolkit (EBCST)
in the discharge routine on the medical-surgical unit. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on
healthcare facilities in 2020 and subsequent inability to implement the DNP project in the
clinical setting, a written project implementation plan was presented instead. The EBCST was
delineated along with a proposed two-part implementation plan. Knowledge gained and change
in RNs’ perceptions related to cybersecurity principles were to be measured. Planned data
analysis interpretation using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 25 and a paired t-test were outlined and
discussed.

Creator

• Mirsad Maglajlic, BSN, GSRNA

Palavra-chave

• EHR

• cyberattacks

• PHI

• EBCST

• protected health information

• evidence-based cybersecurity awareness toolkit

• cybersecurity

• electronic health records

Date created

• June 15, 2020

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/