tablet computers for charge nurses

[daydreaming]

Hello,

I work in a large teaching hospital with electronic health care records, with WOW's at each patient bedside and outside of their room. I find this helpful for looking up values and entering data when I am scheduled with a patient assignment.

However, when I am charge I must utilize a paper clipboard to cover 56 ICU beds and sometimes keeping track of everything can be daunting. I must find an unused nearby computer to look up new patients, patient data when staff nurses call for help, or reference several other paper trails for creating assignments.

I think you know where I am going with this. Anyways, does anyone have experience working in a hospital as a charge nurse with access to a tablet computer and the hospital's electronic health record system? Do you find it more helpful than carrying around a paper clipboard and notes shoved into your pockets?

Does anyone know where I can find any additional information on this, ie research articles, etc? That maybe I can bring to my manager to show the efficacy of implementing such devices?

I envision having charge nurses with tablet computers, will really help out with work throughput and patient safety.

Thank you.

Julie