Nursing in a computerised setting

[Shuja]

HELLO EVERYBODY

I am a nursing student at the UNITEC institute of technology at Auckland. This week we had a debate on the computers and the nursing care. What I concluded is that Computers are becoming a part of the modern world to work without computers will be lame idea. Computers serve great deal in our day-to-day lives. For the nursing it seems to be a different senario. Nurse means to nourish and nourishing can not be done by the materialistic machines. Computer doesn't listen to the patient and it doesn't have feelings. But it can make the thinking better. It can educate people in less time with little effort. It has also reduced the amount of time which was lost in paper work. It is easy to access the details of the patient. The paper work, reports and details used to lost befor the patients discharge from the hospitals is no more a threat to the sound practice these days. All the work is done on the computer.The computerised practice is a better for the new world of Health care.

bye

How about it?

Shuja.

[DAB]

RNINFORMATICS,

Actually all those solutions had been addressed and hadn't worked out too well. The computers were PC'S not laptops so it was difficult to shield the screen from view despite the fact that the nurse/aide had been placed between the screen and the wall didn't work either. One day I came into a room and a patient who was a computer hacker was attempting to log on to the computer, bad idea!! Often I would come in and the computer screen with patient info would be on, the previous person in the room had failed to log off, etc.

With paper charting, I have had to stay late charting only 4 times. With computer it was unusual to see a nurse heading out on time. Not only that, paper charting allowed me to spend more time on patient care, period.

I can understand the push for computer charting because it sounds like such a good idea, easier for JHCO to access records, less storage capacity needed, etc. And maybe for administrative details it would be. I personally would appreciate that if everybody else has to do work by computer. the doctors would too. That way we wouldn't be taking 5 nurses and 15 minutes to decipher the writing and when you call the doc he either blows up or if he's/she's on the floor is unable to read their own writing. (I know y'all have had that happen, I've seen it myself.)

So I'm not really throwing the baby out with the bath water, computer charting might be helpful in some ways. But I'm just saying (writing) that you have to check the water temp before you put the baby in it and you don't throw the baby in the swimming pool and leave her. Instead you use your brains to make sure that everything works correctly so you can complete the task you're trying to do. Nursing is about caring for patients in all the ways we do to help them get better not spend out time fighting with a computer that won't turn on/store data/tap our toes to make sure that when the resident walks away we can finally grab a computer/wait in line at the pyxis while 3 nurses ahead of you check the meds on various patients/or be on the phone with informatics trying to explain that the computer that took you password an hour ago won't take it now.

Hand me a pen baby!!

[Shuja]

:roll

Dear rninformatics

Sorry for writing that it was published 90 years ago. But one thing is there that we are still struggling to standardize our nursing language. It seems to be that after let us say 5 years we are still there trying to come to conclusion of having a common language.

On thing is there, if the paper was published in 1998 but when was the conference held and there must have been a debate on this issue.That means work must have started long time ago but still we are almost no were untill it is started from the basic teaching instituitions.

Sorry to write a short one I am in hurry now .

Hope to write in future.

Thankyou for all that work.

Thanx.

SHUJA

[dstout-rn]

I agree with rninformatics. I currently work as a travel nurse in a hospital with computerized charting and physican ordering...no trying to figure out what they ordered, since the DOCTORS (residents and attendings) have to enter there own orders...ALL of them!!! About the deposition that was pure laziness on the part of the nurses. They should have been more careful in their charting that is not the computer's fault that wrong infomation was entered in the wrong place. I have never used computer charting until this assignment, and got two days to learn how to navigate the system while trying to learn where everything was and who was a nurse, RT or a doctor. Uh... I took my sweet time since my charting is all I have years from now when some lawyer gets a hold of the chart. I think computer charting is great I can read the writing of both nurses (some of us are just a guilty as the docs) and doctors, its easy to point and click and no patients' family flipping through the bedside charts (which does occur), no looking for missing papers or whole charts and if the NA needs to chart vitals and I need to chart a dressing change they can be done at the same time while the doctor makes medication changes.

So give it some time and I know you will love it!

:roll

[mother/babyRN, RN]

We use conputerized charting, in all three areas of OB, though delivery has a separate central monitoring system and computer system of their own...There was quite a bit of initial skepticism, and, while I do miss the narrative notes, in delivery, during the few times we have had to go back to paper charting, I cannot imagine how we did it with so many patients. I would NEVER give up charting by computer because I can add my own specialized notes if I like. And, to the person who mentioned a nurse accessing records, in our facility the system is routinely screened and privacy is a huge issue along with patient rights. Technically you are not even allowed to look up your own lab results or those of your family...PLUS, our systems tell you the last time you logged on so if you were off or on another unit, they would know you were using unauthorized entry....

[mother/babyRN, RN]

Dab, I have to say I read your reply with much interest and you made quite a few interesting points. What I found most interesting and ironic was your quote that everybody deserves a chance...including a computer:) Actually they do have some quirks as you have mentioned. I really dislike that they are not personal to the patient and OUR docs still use handwritten orders...Pretty difficult if not impossible to fudge a chart though, as I have seen some docs and even a nurse or two, attempt to do after the fact..There is no lying from a computerized note...

[pooregirl]

HI everyone,

I have been working with computerized charting for 3 years now. I thought we were behind the times where I work for the VA. I really like charting on the computer verses the paper way. Only one major problem, if it crashes it really makes your life crazy... We even do administer medications on the computer called BCMA, which I thought was great. Started to help decrease medication errors. Its a really useful system as long as it works. At first was time consuming trying to beat the clock and get all the meds. administered in a certain time frame. Our hospital has basically gone paperless. I like it and many of my co-workers do too. My handwriting is starting to suffer just a little. I am all for it though.

Course it doesn't hurt if you can type really well either....

[PhantomRN]

I have used computerized charting for over 2 years now and I would not go back to paper charting.

Computer charting is the wave of the future, we all need to get used to that idea.

[wannaretire]

Computer charting is the way of the future and the present it seems. I have no qualms with the idea provided someone comes up with an easier/home visiting friendly program to use. "Roadnotes" is the program we are using as visiting nurses and find it is a problem to document in homes most of the time especially when it comes to meaurements of wounds as each wound has aboout 2-3 different 'screens" . also having 50+ computer screens to chart on per patient compared to 3-4 papers is a real challenge. Nurses are taking home the laptop to complete their documentation as their day is full seeing 5-6 clients/day, traveling anywhwere from 30 to 120 miles/day, dropping off labs at hospitals/labs. Visits lasting from 30-60 minutes each and 60-90 minutes for an admission. Time spent on the laptop at home ranges anywhere from 2-4 hours after you have put in an 8 hour day and probably have not taken lunch. If someone can assist this problem it would be appreciated. On the plus side laptops have a library of information at your fingertips relating to careplans/medications/access of previous documentation. Will appreciate any help anyone can give relating to the time spent on laptops in order to document.