Re: charting?
I am a little jaded yet to maybe speak to E-charting.
I spent the beginning of my carreer hand charting as many of us--and still kind of liked the convenience of jotting down significant points right at the door--in the moment--while things were still "fresh".
I have since now worked at two hospitals--both with the same program, meditech. I do feel that the time spent at the computer seems to keep me away from my patients more than I ever had been in hand-charting days.
Perhaps though--this to might improve. There is talk of tablets living in every room, and I like that idea for the reasons I mentioned above--being able to chart in real time.
We also have electronic bedside medication verification--which I think is great conceptually--but flawed in reality (as of now and with our set-up).
The med carts with the computers and scanners are big and clunky--and the scanners are just awful--they simply do not scan the patient's ID band as they should too often.
So then one ends up leaving the bedside and scanning a code from--say a patient sticker or paperwork--thusly eliminating that bedside check that the expensive units were intended for.
I guess in the end--I think we are on the right track--and our generations to come will enjoy a convenient and safe system.
But for now--it is simply not either of those.
I am absolutely sure that there are some facilities that have some true, state-of-the-art fancy stuff that works much better.
Can't wait to experience that!
Good luck!
E
Nursing News