2nd Interview??

nungum · Aug 10, 2011

Hi rninformatics,

I'm posting this message I sent to you via PM a couple weeks ago here since I'm not sure if you ever received it or not. I apologize if you have and just haven't had time to respond. But I would love to take you up on your offer for your old notes for the Meditech training. I will actually be going to South Dakota in September for the training since the next one in Boston isn't until November. It will be 3 days and the modules that are being covered are Patient Care System, Long Term Care Patient Care and Behavioral Health Patient Care. Not sure which version of Meditech it is but the platform is Client Server. Is that a version?

Thank you ahead of time for your old notes. It would be extremely helpful. I hope they allow recording. How technical will the training get into? I guess once I review your notes I will have a better idea of the content that will be covered and will have more questions for you I'm sure. :)

nungum · Sep 4, 2011

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on my new position. Just finished my 2nd week. So far so good, I think. The IT crew is awesome. Everyone gets along so well with each other. I'm thinking I will really enjoy this position but since I'm still in the training process and haven't really dived into the nitty gritty of my duties, I can't say 100% for sure yet. My official Meditech training isn't until the end of the month so right now, they have me just going in and playing around with the Meditech system. Luckily there is a consultant there that they hired before I came, to work on the ED portion. I've been learning from him a little bit about building the templates and using the dictionaries. He has to train a superuser from the ED on what he is doing so that she can take over after he leaves to be able to troubleshoot issues and any other requests made by the staff so I've been able to "tag" along. Other than that, I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be learning to excel in this position. I've navigated through the different modules in test mode and played around with the documentations. Looked through the Meditech website and browsed through their product knowledge base sections. The building using the dictionaries is so new to me (and very confusing). I'm thankful for the consultant who is exposing me to it. I've been focusing on that more past couple work days because he says it's almost the same as building on the PCS module. I'm understanding it a little bit more and more. I spent a lot of time going into one of the templates he was working on and breaking it down into the different sections and queries and answers. So I feel I'm getting the hang of the basics of building a template. I practiced building a section on the template he was working on and I pretty much got it except for the naming of the mnemonic for the section. I was thinking to myself if this consultant wasn't here, then I would be completely lost and would have no one really training me. I had a short session with the gal that was doing this role unofficially but we didn't get into anything specific. Just some of the assessment and care plan documentation process. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be working with me on. Stated she wasn't even a computer person and just sort of got thrown into the responsibility. It feels a little weird because I come in to work and am left to my own accord. I log on to my computer and just "play" and practice what I want. I ask questions when I need to but other than that, I need to figure out on my own what I need to be learning. Definitely not what I'm used to. :-)

Can anyone else tell me if this is normal for this position or is it because there wasn't really an official informatics person at this hospital so that's why I'm not getting more of a 1:1 training? I'm just taking it a day at a time and telling myself that one day soon, I will eventually be knowledgeable about a lot of things and be able to troubleshoot issues for all the staff and implement projects.

Any advice on what I should be focusing on? I asked my director if there was any one area I should start to dive in first to get a better feel for things but she said no and just to go "play" around.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Sep 4, 2011

CONGRATS on getting the job and thank you for the update Nungum!

Not knowing the specifics related to exactly what your role is and what your job responsibilities are it's a little hard for me to assist you but here goes...........From what you have written I am going to assume you are in an entry level position.

One of the most appealing (for me) aspects of nursing informatics, information systems and HIT is the AUTONOMY.

Because I have been practicing in this specialty and this field for over 14 years I forget how autonomous and independent I am. NI/HIT/IS professionals are relatively autonomous in their roles. That means they commonly are not micro managed.

Unlike clinical nursing (no offense or disrespect intended here. Nursing has been good to me) healthcare informatics professionals are extremely self-directed, autonomous, proactive leaders and very willing and able to plan their own tasks, projects, daily tasks and duties independent of anyone telling them what to do or how to do such and such on a daily basis.

Many of us feel it is better to volunteer to take the lead on a project than get volunteered by our bosses

As long as the job gets done, the project is on time our bosses/managers pretty much leave us alone to do our work.

From the stand point of a former hiring manager in IT - I have always taken the stand that once I explain what it is I want or need from you, give you the tools to do your job then you shouldn’t need me to look over your shoulder every minute or tell you how to do your job. I've made myself available should someone need my help but I don’t believe in micro managing anyone except my 3 year old niece.... and my better half..... LOL.

Now along with that type of autonomy and independence comes a great deal of responsibility too. You need to be very knowledgeable about what your role boundaries are and not take on responsibilities that exceed your authority/scope of practice or job description....and with experience comes the ability to avoid this...........

You asked if this is normal that one would need to figure out on their own what it is they need to be learning? Yes sometimes it is. Perhaps they hired you because they valued the trait within nurses to figure it out and get it done without someone necessarily holding your hand.

Now having said all the above about independence please also remember that too much of a good thing can be bad too. So don't go deleting or editing any queries, dictionary entries, etc without permission.

Don't change anything just because one user asked you too, etc.

Newbies are frequently unaware of the downstream effects of their actions, so do proceed with caution!

A good rule to follow whenever editing anything is to do screen shots of before and after.... that way if you have to put something back you will know exactly how it was before you messed it up!

Have a talk with your immediate supervisor/director whomever it is you are reporting to and also have a talk with the most experienced analyst in the department (clinical or non-clinical).

Start by letting them know that you had a short session with the gal that had the role before you, it wasn’t much, that the consultant has been training/orientating you and you are interested in getting more formalized training in PCS (or whichever module(s) you will be responsible for supporting) and how will this happen?

Meditech has virtual (webex) PCS trainings and trainings that are provided in Boston. When are you going to get your formal Meditech training?

Also ask what the expectation is as far as your competency and which Meditech modules you will be responsible for. What will those responsiblities include?: building assessments, testing, trouble shooting when end users call, implementing, what exactly is the expectation as to what you will be expected to be able to do and when do they expect that you should be independent in doing it? These answers should give you some focus to your orientation and training.

Have you signed up for the MeditechL listserve? You should. Read through the digest each day. If it relates to your modules ask questions of whoever is responsible for orientating you there......... and e-mail listserve members (off list) that seem knowledgeable and receptive to questions. Show me how proactive you can be by NOT asking me: "How do I sign up for MeditechL, Angela?" I am a firm believer in letting people figure things out for themselves. If you tie someone's shoes for them and one day you get hit by a bread truck you've not done anyone a favor in leaving behind someone who cant tie his/her own shoes....

But know that if you can’t figure it out on your own, after trying, I am willing to assist.

I've also attached a document that may help you (or those who are orientating you) in organizing and determining the content of some of the things you will need to know.

I created the attached when I was mentoring newly hired PCM, PCS and OE analysts who were originally staff nurses and totally new to the IT dept.

I hope this helps. Post to the forum, message or e-mail me if you need anything else.

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to give an update on my new position. Just finished my 2nd week. So far so good, I think. The IT crew is awesome. Everyone gets along so well with each other. I'm thinking I will really enjoy this position but since I'm still in the training process and haven't really dived into the nitty gritty of my duties, I can't say 100% for sure yet. My official Meditech training isn't until the end of the month so right now, they have me just going in and playing around with the Meditech system. Luckily there is a consultant there that they hired before I came, to work on the ED portion. I've been learning from him a little bit about building the templates and using the dictionaries. He has to train a superuser from the ED on what he is doing so that she can take over after he leaves to be able to troubleshoot issues and any other requests made by the staff so I've been able to "tag" along. Other than that, I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be learning to excel in this position. I've navigated through the different modules in test mode and played around with the documentations. Looked through the Meditech website and browsed through their product knowledge base sections. The building using the dictionaries is so new to me (and very confusing). I'm thankful for the consultant who is exposing me to it. I've been focusing on that more past couple work days because he says it's almost the same as building on the PCS module. I'm understanding it a little bit more and more. I spent a lot of time going into one of the templates he was working on and breaking it down into the different sections and queries and answers. So I feel I'm getting the hang of the basics of building a template. I practiced building a section on the template he was working on and I pretty much got it except for the naming of the mnemonic for the section. I was thinking to myself if this consultant wasn't here, then I would be completely lost and would have no one really training me. I had a short session with the gal that was doing this role unofficially but we didn't get into anything specific. Just some of the assessment and care plan documentation process. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be working with me on. Stated she wasn't even a computer person and just sort of got thrown into the responsibility. It feels a little weird because I come in to work and am left to my own accord. I log on to my computer and just "play" and practice what I want. I ask questions when I need to but other than that, I need to figure out on my own what I need to be learning. Definitely not what I'm used to. :-)
Can anyone else tell me if this is normal for this position or is it because there wasn't really an official informatics person at this hospital so that's why I'm not getting more of a 1:1 training? I'm just taking it a day at a time and telling myself that one day soon, I will eventually be knowledgeable about a lot of things and be able to troubleshoot issues for all the staff and implement projects.
Any advice on what I should be focusing on? I asked my director if there was any one area I should start to dive in first to get a better feel for things but she said no and just to go "play" around.

New PCM Analyst Trng.pdf

nungum · Sep 5, 2011

Hi rninformatics,

Thanks for the reply. I believe I will mostly be responsible for the PCS module. There's another clinical analyst there that is fairly new as well (1 year) but she deals mostly with the PHA module and doesn't know anything about PCS. That's why the IT director wanted someone with a nursing background to get involved and be the expert in PCS. According to the schedule, we will start implementing PCM end of next year and I will be involved in that as well. I'm pretty sure I won't be limited to just issues that staffing will have within PCS.

My formal Meditech training will start Sep 27th in South Dakota.

I love the autonomy of the position. Just not used to it quite yet. :-) Like yourself, my director stated she doesn't like to micromanage as well which is great. I just want to make efficient use of my time to learn what I need to learn so that I can get on board and be useful. I've already had a few people that I've met wanting me to work on certain issues they want me to work on. I'm all for being proactive and getting things done. I really want to excel in this position and be known as someone who is informative and can get issues resolved for everyone. I'm very excited and anxious to get past the learning curve. :-)

I will be contacting the gal that was the go to meditech person for the hospital and setting up another session with her to get more specific details on what she knows about the PCS modules.

Thanks again for all your input.