Fountain Pens for Charting

[wernicke, BSN, RN]

This is really, really small potatoes in the scheme of it all but I've been wondering about this. Does anyone routinely use fountain pens for charting? As long as notes are neat, well done, and clean/professional in appearance (no smudges/blots/etc), would anyone mind if it was done in ink as opposed to ballpoint?

For background, I'm in a new grad home healthcare program (mostly complex pedi cases, traches, vents, g-tubes, TPN, etc.). At my new agency, virtually all charting is paper. This week has been all classroom; I've used a fountain each day but no one has mentioned it (nor have I brought it up). My writing speed is the same as it is with ballpoint (if anything a bit faster since I'm more used to fountain). I've used mostly fountain pens since I was 11; I had the opportunity to try one out and it was love at first-write :-). They really are a lot easier and cheaper than people realize. There are high end brands yes, and those are the ones doctors and lawyers tend to use, but you can get one that writes very similarly for less than $10.

For important documents, I only use a couple pens I really "trust". Ones that never blot or smudge. The right type of nib will exert enough pressure to work on "carbon copies" (technically "pressure copies" now I guess). I also use very fast drying ink (gotta clean my nibs constantly now because it can dry and form mini plugs but worth it-never smudged since switching a couple years back). None of my pens are expensive. If I ever lost one I'd only be sad for sentimental reasons (I've had many of them for several years, and a couple are from street fairs and would not be possible to replace).

I do know that fountain pens are good for legal documents because they are virtually impossible to forge. Are there any other issues I may not be thinking of?

[Wuzzie]

Spilled ink. Yikes.

[klone, MSN, RN]

It's seems like an affectation to me. You're seriously going to chart with an inkpot?

[SmilingBluEyes]

No. No. No.

[HermioneG, BSN, RN]

My vote is that its absolutely critical to use a ballpoint pen. Back when I used to be a TA for human gross anatomy we had papers that would sometimes get wet with cadaver fluid (gross, I know). Ballpoint is one of the only pens that will not run if the paper gets wet. Ballpoint pens are typically the standard in science labs for that exact reason, and I do believe it should be the same for patient charts.

Spill some coffee, water, or have your charts get momentarily wet in the rain and you're going to be looking at a bunch of important documents that are a runny and unreadable mess.

[elkpark]

It's seems like an affectation to me. You're seriously going to chart with an inkpot?

For heaven's sake, you don't have to use an inkpot. It's a fountain pen, not a quill pen.

OP, I've known some physicians that routinely used fountain pens for charting. There is the concern about the ink bleeding/running if the document gets wet (at all). I would check with my employer. I love fountain pens, and have several nice ones that I use at home in my "real life," but I don't use them at work (of course, the system I'm in now uses all electronic charting, so what kind of pen I use isn't really an issue at work).

[HermioneG, BSN, RN]

For heaven's sake, you don't have to use an inkpot. It's a fountain pen, not a quill pen.

For some reason, this made me laugh so hard :D:D:D:D

I spot a fellow stationary fanatic! :)

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

I love my Zebra pens. Won't bleed or smudge and have a fine tip for clear, small print. They can also easily make it through the biggest stacks of carbon copies.

[wernicke, BSN, RN]

Thank you all!

Some of the previous answers made a lot more sense when I realized that people were picturing the real old school fountain pens. Modern ones have cartridges. They resemble refills for any other type of pen. Modern nibs cannot uptake ink like the ones used before ballpoint took off. One needs disposable prefilled cartridges or a converter (clear cartridge that can be filled from an ink bottle). I use disposable prefilled. The angle and pressure are slightly different but other than that it's like writing with any other pen.

The best one I have for smoothness is one I got at a street fair. Looked at it closely and indeed the guy who made it used a Zebra nib! Seems the way to go :-)

[quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN]

I find that with some paper, I can not turn the page over and write due to the thinness of the paper. I don't use mine for work, but love to use them for other things. I use the converters on mine. Maybe I should get a finer point one and see how that does on paper.

[wernicke, BSN, RN]

I find that with some paper, I can not turn the page over and write due to the thinness of the paper. I don't use mine for work, but love to use them for other things. I use the converters on mine. Maybe I should get a finer point one and see how that does on paper.

I've got a couple homemade ones (bought at street fair). One uses a fine Zebra nib, the other is a #4 Iridium extra fine point German. Both are excellent for not bleeding through. In fact, ballpoint is more seeable through paper than the way these two write.

[elkpark]

I use disposable prefilled.

I'm a refillable girl, myself. Some of my pens are old enough that they don't have "converters," they predate the replaceable cartridges and can only be refilled from inkpots.