What will electronic charting do to all our man hours

[HHN2472]

We are going to electronic charting in July of this year. We have several nurses in our office, but most of our time as RNs are spent charting and doing the OASIS which are so long and then we have 2 nurses designated to do record audits. When we go to charting and we are not tied down by all the paperwork, will that hurt or help us? We are all hourly and get plenty of overtime due to charting and record audits. Just curious.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Are you laboring under the idea that computerized charting takes LESS time? Because in my experience, it does not.

[shefrn1]

I live computerized charting....it is still time consuming though

[akanini, MSN, RN]

It IS very time consuming. However, the time goes by kind of fast. OP, sorry I can't help with your question. I do Oasis SOC visiting the home. Your question seems to hear towards inside the office.

[ttouslee]

We do electronic charting and about the only thing it saves, is your hand from cramping from all that writing. It might be some faster but not much.

[caliotter3]

An acquaintance told me her computerized charting took a great deal more time because of bad connections that happened almost every time she logged on.

[BabaLouRN]

You MAY trade those hours for sleep, time with your family and a few "me" hours!!! I know I have done handwritten charts a long time but I swear, I will never to back to all than manual writing.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Knowing that I can type at a decent rate, 44 WPM, I'm faster typing than I am writing using a traditional pen/paper method. People that have some difficulty typing are going to have difficulties using a computerized chart. On my own personal computer, I use dictation software. When I'm actually using it and the recognition level is good, I can "type" at around 100-150 WPM. That gets to be a challenge though, if I'm using any sort of a table or spreadsheet type program.

Also, simply using something new for the first time, paper or electronic, can take time simply because you don't know where anything is yet...

I used to do a LOT of paper charting way back when, and the vast majority of the charting I've done lately has been using some kind of EMR. While I don't detest paper charts, I really do prefer electronic charts.

Disclosure: I'm still but a student...