I have been working at a community mental health crisis emergency room for 12 years and just returned to the hospital setting this week,i cannot believe how tied down the nurses are by the computer system which is designed to meet JCAH/MEDICARE/MEDICAID standards but is not an efficient tool for the nurse.The computer system appears to be designed to trap the nurses,every note,time entered etc,if things are not done red flags sent to supervisors,for example,if you are on an ortho floor,you have the standard 1/2 hour before to 1/2 hr after to give a med,but if you need to stop to help a patient it becomes noted as an error if you are even 5 minutes late to give your other meds,the computers are designed to flag you if you accidentally click on a patient while in the computer,not yours,and then the HIPPA police contact you and your supervisor,even if you did not access their data base,you can only access a screen at one site,so if you float to another floor,at the request of nursing,you cannot access the computer even though you have to be able to in order to give meds?does anyone else see the current use of computers as an obstacle or is it just me?
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
Been part of our agency's IT task force for user input:
Flags can be turned on or turned off with just a few keystrokes....ours are turned off as more nuisance that help as too many variables in human interactions. Yep, need a nurse IT professional to make system user friendly.
to Mary our Clinical Applications Mgr who remembers and thinks like a staff nurse in designing our forms.
i am an old,experienced rn in a new,large inner city er. i oriented a week, i am internal agency. i have found the computer system all consuming, both time wise and emotionally. i was told by the manager from feedback that i appear very stresed and overwhelmed. there are no concerns about my nursing care or judgement. any advice?
I work with some nurses that wait til the end of their shift to sign out all their meds (ahhh!) and do all their charting. They still do it, several years into when we started using the system, so I'm guessing administration isn't checking that, or at least not concerned about it (thought I imagine if they saw it, they would be concerned).
However, I do know they check how often you're refreshing your screen to check for new orders. We're required to do it one every 2 hours, which I don't think is unreasonable, and I know I at least exceed.
NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN
10 Articles; 19,175 Posts
Been part of our agency's IT task force for user input:
Flags can be turned on or turned off with just a few keystrokes....ours are turned off as more nuisance that help as too many variables in human interactions. Yep, need a nurse IT professional to make system user friendly.