Big ideas, little experience; Any suggestions?

[Altruisticnurse]

Hi all,

I have been a RN/BSN for a very short time (since August) but throughout my clinical education at two hospitals and my later employment at one of those institutions. I have seen how electronic and written documentation impacts the people who interact with them.

I have become interested in the field of informatics just due to this. Nurses who have to spend an extra hour or two charting after the end of their shift impacts the hospital's budget as well as causing the nurse additional stress, impacting the nurse's health.

Medical reconciliation issues, messy written orders, and loss of time involved in deciphering physician orders or in telephone orders cause me to think, "There has got to be a better way!" However, from reading many of your threads, I think I may be too inexperienced yet to form such a opinion.

I have been researching options for getting my master's degree in nursing informatics and hope to get some input from those who practice nursing informatics as to what I might do and if this specialty may be right for me.

I hope that one day nurses can interact with electronic charting systems that will be more of a help and less of a hindrance so we can focus more on the patient.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Dictation for nurses would save a lot of time, and be more accurate than handwritten notes.

[eltrip]

True, Canoehead. The docs have been using them for a long time. Do you propose voice-recognition software or using a transcription service? If the latter, how could the expense be justified?

Altruisticnurse, there is a better way. Many facilities require physicians to enter their orders into the computer. It eliminates the deciphering of messy handwriting when taking off orders. You're definitely on the right track! My facility is phasing in using a rolling computer cart that has a bar code reader for the patient's ID bracelet & the meds. It does speed things up a wee bit but, at the same time, does take some getting used to using. I think it'll improve with usage.

Good luck to you in your first year of nursing!

eltrip

[Brownms46]

True, Canoehead. The docs have been using them for a long time. Do you propose voice-recognition software or using a transcription service? If the latter, how could the expense be justified?

eltrip

Although voice-recognition software has come a long way, it still has a way to go before it would be viable alternative. Yes MDs use them, and they can be useful if you are not in a hurry. Or if you have a cold, or you have an accent..etc. And even if transcription service could be cost effective, one of the biggest issues would be turn around time.

I believe having an intuitive EMR, along with a healthcare system that ensures all of it's employees have a voice in the design before the build and implementation, is the best solution right now. Unfortunately I have been in places where the staff never saw the software until it was rolled out.