Cerner EMR? Tell me allll about it

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

Our facility is switching to Cerner EMR next year. We looked at several EMRs over the past year and was announced today that Cerner was chosen. Our ER charts with Wellsoft right now but the floor uses something different and the two programs don't talk to each other so whatever charting occurs in the ER is just printed and placed on the chart upstairs. It is so easy to use but I can see why the facility wants one charting system house-wide.

I was on the committee in the ER to test drive several but I honestly cannot remember why I liked / disliked this one - it was last year! I cannot remember that long ago!! I think we looked at Epic and one other but the third one was shot down pretty quickly as it wouldn't grow with a systems as large as ours.

Anyone around here use Cerner? What can you tell me about it?

I'm sure the company will send super users to help us transition but I cannot remember much about it.

Is it easy to navigate and keep up with your pending orders and then find things you've charted?

[lbroberts265]

The hospital I work at uses cerner throughout and I enjoy it. I've only ever used it or meditech though. The ER has a tracking shell that shows patients, acuity, wait time, room number, if you have a nurse review, if vitals are late, etcetera. It's really handy honestly.

[NJ2013]

cerner is what we use at our hospital. please keep in mind that there are different variations of it..

Cerner EMR is easy to navigate, easy to chart as long as your informatics dept tweak it..

It has different "bands" so you can customize to your specific liking.. its really a nice EMR. you'll be able to master within a few weeks.

[veriteblesse]

I really like it. I have used both First Net and Surginet (specific components of Cerner) and found it easy to chart and understand. Of course, the only other EMR I used was that DOS-based horror Meditech, so after that almost anything looks amazing.

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

I do recall liking Cerner over Epic because of the customizability of it.

Currently, we can create our own templates to suite our specific needs and I love that. The "dashboard" or tracking screen is also very easy to use.

I also think Cerner was the one that could automatically pull old EKGs for the patient. Does that sound right? I don't know why that sticks out in my head.

[NotoriousK8]

Hey,

I've used Cerner for about four years now. I'm a "super user"í ½í¸‚ I find center is easy to master and user friendly. You can use the bands to chart assessments, flag annotations, and write notes. Most facilities have requirements on what they want to to utilize more. In the ER we flag a ton of annotations but also use the bands to chart assessments. The cool thing about FirstNet is definitely the tracking board. It's organized and user friendly once you learn what things mean. Power chart is straight forward and just like FirstNet.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

At my old job, I used FirstNet which is a cerner system. I found it easy to use, but I had prior PowerChart (Cerner inpatient system) experience. There is a tracking shell which organizes things for you. I now use Epic, and find it the cleanest interface.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I have been using Cerner for a couple years now. I used Cerner for a couple semesters in nursing school (primarily PowerChart) and 2 years now as an ED RN. It's very flexible and customizeable. The Tracking Shell is also very useful and has an option to "filter" your view in several different ways. When I worked in a small ED, I usually used a global view that showed all patients, in rooms and in the waiting room. Now that I'm working in a larger ED, I use a filter that shows my assigned area OR those patients that are "mine" so I don't miss something that suddenly pops up.

The downside of Cerner is that it is very customizeable. Your facility can choose the naming and placement of the various "bands" so you just have to work with the system to get used to where the various things you will need to do your charting "live" so you can find them and do your charting. Epic is also easy to use and can be customized. While I would likely have said "go with Epic" I would have also said "go with Cerner" as a hospital-wide EMR system. The stuff you chart "stays" with the patient all the way through discharge. It's possible to "see" a patient's progress from admit to the ED to hospital discharge.

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

While I would likely have said "go with Epic" I would have also said "go with Cerner" as a hospital-wide EMR system. The stuff you chart "stays" with the patient all the way through discharge. It's possible to "see" a patient's progress from admit to the ED to hospital discharge.

This is the whole reason we are now going with a house-wide system. There is just no continuity of charting care.

I am currently picking up shifts on the floor which uses a totally different system than what we use in the ED and I could pick it up pretty quickly but it would be nice to read more of what all was done with the patient prior to coming to the floor on the computer. Instead, I have to look back at the paper chart to see when meds were given, etc. It would also be nice to not have to kill half of a tree to transfer the patient upstairs.