Any CNA's use Accunurse at their facility?

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Our ltc facility started using Accunurse headsets a couple months ago- I was just curious to see if anyone else has been using them, and what your opinions are of the system?

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I've never heard of Accunurse. Can you describe what it is used for?

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Sure- basically it is a system where we all wear a headset with a microphone (think fast food drive-thru headset), and we have it attached to a battery pack that we wear. We keep them on our entire shift, and do all of our charting through the headsets, which eliminates the need for paper charting. One of the main reasons we got the system was to discourage "parrot charting", or just copying the same adl codes as the previous shift.

The system has definitely taken some getting used to, but now that I am feeling more comfortable with it, I am sort of liking it. Since we can do charting pretty much right after performing the care, it saves trying to cram in all the charting at the end of the shift. I do have some problems with my headset picking up certain words, and if the noise level in the area I am in changes, I have a hard time charting.

There are some other uses for the headsets besides charting too- for example, we can page each other (or even page a whole unit), and we can set up reminders for different things, such as a doctor's appointment for each resident. Also, as a resident's care plan is updated, it alerts us to the changes in our headsets.

I had never heard of Accunurse before we got the system, so that is why I was interested to see if anyone else had ever used it.

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Specializes in LTC, rehab medicine & therapies.

When I worked in long term care, we had something similar but not for charting - more for communicating with each other. It goes without saying that this wasn't always as efficient as I think the higher ups wanted it to be. :) Sure did provide some amusing moments, though.

The problem we had was the battery pack being heavy and the cord being a hassle when we were transferring patients. Any similar problems so far, Buckeyefan47?

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When I worked in long term care, we had something similar but not for charting - more for communicating with each other. It goes without saying that this wasn't always as efficient as I think the higher ups wanted it to be. :) Sure did provide some amusing moments, though.

The problem we had was the battery pack being heavy and the cord being a hassle when we were transferring patients. Any similar problems so far, Buckeyefan47?

Yep, definitely some issues with the battery pack being cumbersome, and the cords being in the way- I have gotten myself tangled in the lift more than once, and some of my residents have torn my headset off by grabbing the cord and pulling it.

Another big issue that I have is where to chart; we obviously can't chart while walking down a hall because of HIPAA, but we also cannot chart in the presence of the resident that we are charting on. So, what I have been doing is after performing care on a resident, I have to go to another room (generally one of the bathrooms), close the door and do my charting....not exactly the most convenient thing to do, especially when you are running after alerts.

Definitely a good concept, but there are some down sides as well.

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It sounds like a great system for paging people but I dont think that I would like using it to chart. It gets so irritating trying to find the nurse or your partner for help all the time.

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I'm a CNA at a facility in the Pittsburgh area. I've used Accunurse to chart and I find it slow, intrusive and a misuse of technology. I would mucy prefer to use a kiosk system or a computer to perform the charting. It is bad enough to have to deal with sick individuals but to have to fight with the voice activated system is extremely frustrating. I don't know anyone who has used this system at the facility I work at or two other facilities who like using it. I could do the same amount of charting in 1/10 the time by hand or by using a computer keyboard. I always thought computers were to be used to enhance your productivity but Accunurse slows you down and frustrates you. I recommend any administrator who is thinking about using it should go to a facility who is currently using it and speak with the CNA's and actually use it for a couple of days.

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I have been using accunurse for about 3 months now. I don't hate it, but don't love it either. It is very sensitive as far as your tone of voice, etc. (if your upset, or irritated) I personally would prefer to chart the old fashioned way, in the chart, with a pen. I also just heard that the RN's are going to start using this system as well.

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Specializes in cna.

I used to really enjoy going to work and working w/ the residents and know that I can make a difference in there lives. Now I dread it because of accunurse and I spend more time talking to accunurse then I do with my residents. I feel like im socialy neglecting them since accunurse has became a part of my work life. The pressure to complete all documentation accurately and at point of care is impossiable to me.

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I am the RN Supervisor for 11-7 in a long term care facilty and our CNA's use them. We have to wear the thing too. We get our ever loving @$$es chewed out good if our CNA's don't get 100% by the end of shift. We are to get on it and help chart too in that case. I think it is the worst thing ever to happen to us. Because starting at about 6:30am, it gets really busy in the nurses station and that's when we start having to help chart if necessary. There have been times when we don't get 100% and our DON says she gets ugly emails from the Accunurse people. I personally hate it. Oh, and just as an aside, the lady who's voice we hear on the headset is the very same lady who talks on the ipod shuffle, saying the name and artist for a song. I was listening to my daughter's ipod shuffle and noticed that. Anyway suffice it to say I hate Accunurse.

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Specializes in LTC.

Wow that sounds like a huge pain. My facility is all paper and they're talking about going to an electronic charting system. I hope it's not this. When I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll. I don't want to have to stop and fight with some computer and I definitely don't want to wear a headset all day (that would give me a headache, I know it; I can't even wear headbands).

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I’m with AccuNurse and just ran across your posts. We’re really sorry some of you are experiencing some issues. I have a couple of tips that I think will help. With regard to the cords, during training, we show users how to tuck the cords into clothing so it’s not dangling in front of you. It’s also helpful to not wear the headset in front of residents; but rather keep it around your neck (like a stethoscope is worn). Then, when you’re away from your care initiative, you can slip it on quickly and document. No worries about HIPAA because the system refers to residents by room number, not by name. Plus, since you’re responding to its prompts, no one around you can hear what the system is asking. Hope this helps!

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