Some things can be done real time, and others that is an unrealistic
expectation. Once the usual hustle of starting shift - assessments, doc
rounds and meds are "done" for the moment, people can start charting and
will use the "retro" feature to get things entered with the time they said
they did them. Once caught up, many people will chart real time for smaller
things as they do them, turns and ADLs, meds, re-assessments, etc if the
device is handy (bedside units or some form of portable). Others will never
be able to make this mental transition. Those that have transitioned seem to
like it. We have the luxury of bedside clinical tunnel units in most of the
rooms at both our facilities now, as there were significant issues with
wireless reliability and security of devices at our places (we also have
BMV).

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 5:09 AM
To: Mueller, Madge; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MEDITECH-L] Real Time Documentation


Hi Madge. I will be interested in seeing othe responses to your question. I
think real time documentation can work in some areas; for example,
ambulatory surgery, where the workflow may be such that the nurse is
focusing on one patient at a time, and doesn't see another patient until the
first one has been fully processed.. 
 
Real-time documentation would be a real challenge, however, on the
in-patient side, where nurses may be carring for 5-6 patients
simultaneously.  Nurses in those practice settings have always done the bulk
of their documentation during "down time". In any nursing unit I've seen,
these periods of lower activity are pretty predictable. For example, once
all the docs have made rounds, and  lunch is over and the patients have been
toileted, there is often a break in the usual frantic pace of the unit. This
is when nurses can sit down and chart without being interrupted continuously
by the needs of the patients.
 
If the in-patient nurse were to document in real time, his first patient
would receive his services in a timely fashion. But with each subsequent
patient, those at the end of the line would have to wait longer and longer
to see him. I could easily imagine pain and nausea meds being significantly
delayed. The only real time documentation system that I believe would truly
work would be some kind of voice recognition system that would allow the
nurse to dictate in real time and make corrections/additions later.
 
Lots of ICUs are online, and their flowsheet info can be online. It may not
be exactly like their paper flowsheet, but they just have to make the mental
transition from seeing the data in one format to another.  
 
Good luck! Sharon (ICU Director)
 
 
 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Mueller, Madge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 


Help! 

We are in the process of building our NUR documentation.  We are wireless
and have mobile computers and our expectation is that the staff will
document in "real time".  Our User Group feels we are being totally
unrealistic and that there is no way nurses can document in "real time".
They also feel that critical care units cannot document on line and should
stay manual with a flowsheet.  Are we being unrealistic?  Are there any
sites that actually have their staff documenting in "real time" and critical
areas documenting on line?  If so, what secrets do you have to get staff to
accept?

Thanks in advance for any assistance. 
Madge  

Madge Mueller  RN, MSN 
Trihealth Information Systems 
Sr Applications Programmer/Analyst 
(513) 569-6814 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 


PRIVACY/CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE REGARDING PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

This email (and accompanying documents) contains protected health
information that is privileged, confidential and/or otherwise exempt from
and protected from disclosure under applicable laws, including the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The information contained in
this email (and any accompanying documents) is intended only for the
personal and confidential use of the intended recipient. If the reader of
this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent
responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that you have received this information in error and that any
review, dissemination, distribution, copying or action taken in reliance on
the contents of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this communication in error, please destroy it immediately.


======================================
All messages should be posted in plain text.  
HTML will be converted to attachments.    

The meditech-l web site is MTUsers.com
______________________________________
meditech-l mailing list
[email protected]
http://mtusers.com/mailman/listinfo/meditech-l

Reply via email to