Calling all users of QS charting

We are learning it right now and it will be implemented once we are all trained early next month--I'll let you know when I know!

We have QS. I've been on OB for 6 full weeks now, so take my opinion for what its worth-plus, i've never used anythign else for OB

i have no idea if it interfaces with meditech, since we don't have meditech. (thank goodness. meditech sucks)

ADVANTAGES:

different ways to chart. when charting your q15min fhr/ctx monitoring, you can either click right on the stored strip, at the minute you want and click on preselected choices. Or, you can click on "flowsheet" and enter it in there.

FOr very common things done, like AROM, IUPC or FSE insertion, or any interventions for decels, you click on your stored strip and can just click on any of these things, and it will place it in the proper place. all the different options for amniotic fluid can be easily clicked on.

the blood pressures /pulses are automatically entered into the vitals section. (you do have to type in resps and temp)

there is a section for "flowsheet" (this is a clickable tab across the bottom of the screen) that you can enter about a zillion different choices, including iv site checks/bladder assessments/common meds (pit/mag) rates/urine dip results/etc etc etc.

there is another tab for "pain" that has clickable choices for pain/pain scale/pain goal/location/quality/duration/radiation/alleviating factors/interventions/response to interventions/resp rate/sedation state/meds given/epidural status or pca status/etc etc.

another tab for assessment that is just for physical assessment

another tab just for nurses notes.

another tab is delivery summary (all the statistics)

anything you put in will go onto the flowsheet in teh appropriate place/time.

there is also the chalkboard, where at the nurses station, you can display teh chalkboard, which shows each pt, their dilatation/effacement/station, membrane status/color of membranes, g's and p's, gest age, epidural (yes or no)/ and the patients nurse. when you are in the patients room,a nd you enter in their dilatation, or the arom thing-it automatically updates it in the chalkboard.

the strip stored on teh computer is great, too. you can scroll back thru it, then read/analyze the strip from the computer or the printout

love it.

DISADVANTAGES:

the printouts of this charing can be hard to follow. reading it on teh computer is easy, but it doesn't read too easy-the organization of how its printed.

it can be hard to get used to at first, but based on the repetetive nature of OB charting, you quickly get used to it.

i can post a pic of one of their screens-when i was in labor last year my hubby took a pic of the screen. i've blacked out my name/doctors name/nurses name. at teh bottom of hte pic you can see all the different tab choices. you are LDRP right? i only know teh recovery part of the postpartum section. We also don't have labor curve as a choice anymore (this pic is 18 months old).

will post pic in next image.

lmk if you have any ?'s

QS charting screenshot...

I don't think QS interfaces with Medi-tech. The one thing I do not like about QS is the IV I&O charting. Adding a new bag of IV fluid to the I&O screen is way more complicated than it needs to be.

THANKS guys. We have the equipment, and I am familiar w/the chalkboard and its use. So that looked familiar.

Yes Meditech sucks bigtime. We are so stuck on that however.

Thanks for the input so far.....really appreciate it.

Anyone else who has anything to add, please do. Am printing this out as I get inputs...for mine and my manager's use.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I've used QS at 4 different hospitals since I've been traveling. I absolutely love it! I think it allows for more time at the bedside. There are features that you can "copy & paste" from previous entries. I love being able to chart on the strip. Coming from a place where we wrote the delivery time in 7 different places.....I think QS is great.

I was at a hospital where they were upgrading their QS system. The big complaint was that some of the screens were divided up. While before, the FHT & UC pattern was combined was the other assessment. The nurses didn't like them separated. There are really no bugs just personal preference.

I think it's a great system.

Our Qs only interfaces with meditech in the admission of the pt. We still do orders and labs on Meditech, all else on QS. having used Meditech to chart labors, I will take QS any and all times. We had "watchchild" prior to qs and it was a good segway into computer charting, as alot of our nurses were older and not very computer savy. Qs is a more "windows" based product. You can configure your QS system to fit your unit needs. Our "tabs" are alot different from the screen above. I love the "click and point" on the strip it self, and with labors use that almost exculsively. Ante's and Posty's are different. Don't use the baby portion, myself, so can't tell you how that works, tho I know some of mom's admission stuff, labs etc, does flow to the baby chart.

Good luck in your transition, new stuff is always a challenge, but once you get used to it, you'll wonder what took so long.

Hi ,

I have used the system for about 6 years and I love it... I am also a superuser. It does not interface with meditech, i understand that there are patent protections in place that prohibit cooperation between the entities who own the intellectual rights to the systems. meditech is not able to use the information on the fetal monitor and have it flow to the maternal chart.

One of the new nurses to l and d has come from the sicu where meditech is used and she has commented many times that qs is easier and she likes qs much better. Once you figure out the common tabs that you will use for most documentation, you will find it easy. here are the main problems.... It is possible to chart on the wrong tracing, if you are not careful. once you do this you cannot delete it, so all you can do is enter an "error " note.

second, it is not possible to find an entry you may have made on a chart in the past just by asking your programer to find all entries under your name for a particular date. I know that sounds obscure, but there have been instances in which it would be very helpful to gauge the acuity of a shift by how many times you charted.

The system is specifically designed as a data entry and retreival system and it doesnt provide the nurse with the tool to track the documentation of herself or others.

It makes a hugh difference to have a programer who will work closely with your staff and you will have questions that require 24 hour support.

You will still need a paper system from time to time, when the system is being updated, for example or if you have an ob patient boarding on another service. I suggest keeping a file box that has all the old fashioned paperwork for "qs downtime". These papers are also handy to use as a template to jog your brain not to forget all the various fields you need to document on until you get used to the system. good luck, If you have problems, e mail me and i will try to help. I work at night and can check in !

Oh believe me, I hate meditech. I was a superuser when we brought our meditech system "online" for charting and Emar. I hated it then, still do now. But from what I read here, and what I have heard, I am gonna really like QS. I am very pro-computer-use wherever possible. But Meditech makes things harder and is not safe. QS, I have heard, is rather very different. I am looking forward to this!

Any special tips you have as a super-user?????~

New to OB, but not nursing. I've used the invision and MAC system in critical care and now that I'm in OB the complete care center uses QS. NICU, nursery, mother/baby, L&D, the OB OR's, and OB triage. It's a pretty good system and as the patient works her way through the system- triage to L&D, to mother/baby, so on and so forth the charting system is the same and one can easily look back at everything. I agree w/ happynurse 2005. A little confusing at first but so easy to track all important info once done. Even when a pt. is OOB to bathroom, the system tracks it b/c of the US/UA monitring jolts the strip tracings. So it even in a sense tracks pt. activity and all you have to do is label what was happening at that moment. Never an excuse to not have something charted on the system and keeps one up to date and aware of activities in L&D. A lot of it is just the click of the button for charting options. no need for a lot of nursing notes and annotations.

pitfalls for charting. if you are doing a strip check to be documented on a specific minute from either active beds or stored strip. remember the sytstem only allows 255 characters documented per minute on the strip at any given time.(if you go beyond it won't be charted) so if more info needs to be put in for that specific min. of documentation. enter what you can, don't go over the limit. press "OK". then click on the same minute of strip again. document the rest as needed. especially comes into play when documenting an annotation note with the reviewed strip for the past half worth of strip. (I learned the hard way and it drove me crazy)

Hope this helps

Thanks so much for your input, Real! This helps a lot!

I appreciate all of you taking time to help me out here....this is great! As always, I can count on my allnurses.com friends to come through.