Connecting for Care

If you have read the article included in our Module 2 called "Connecting for Care: Nursing and Health Information Exchange" by Judy Murphy, like me, you will recognize that we have a major role in the health care reform. This is in the area of standardization of nursing language in all health care settings as we continue our direction to the mandate of electronic health record by year 2014. Our role is beautifully written by Murphy (2010), "Now my message is this. Be the change you want to see in patient-centric care. Make sure you are embracing the challenges of interoperability and getting involved in solving them for your organization. Participate in the data exchange efforts in your state. Understand the standards involved in the meaningful use definitions. Get involved in the nursing efforts for standardizing clinical vocabularies and reference terminologies. Being able to share and compare data between health care organizations and across time is the right thing to do for our patients- both for the individual patient's quality of care and for the secondary use of analyzing data across patients to study the efficacy of our practice and how we contribute to patient outcomes".

Module 2: My Involvement in IS Implementation

What is one way I could become involved in designing, selecting, evaluating or implementing an information system in my workplace?

As a home health nurse I will choose to be involved in the design and selection process of a new EHR at my employment as the representative from the nursing department. This is a switch from paper to electronic charting.  Some of the criteria on the clinical dimension that I will focus on are the following: what tools will clinicians use to enter patient information and how accessible are these tools, are they easy to use, is the EHR accessible at the patient’s home or wherever the patient resides, how is privacy maintained in the home health setting where clinicians are more likely to keep patient records in their cars, does it save time in documentation, and does it improve quality of patient care and contribute to good patient outcomes?

Several years back, I was involved in our transition from paper to electronic OASIS and plans of care. I helped review an EHR program (Misys) that my employer was interested in purchasing. I was involved in evaluating and testing the program’s fit in the home health arena.  I reviewed ease of use, simplicity especially in navigating through all outcome-based assessment questions, and if the medical diagnoses, nursing diagnoses and clinical pathways were based on approved standards. I helped create our company’s standardized clinical pathways (including goals and interventions), yet allowing free-texting for better customization of care plans.  It was exciting when we finally were in the test and evaluation process if it met our expectations. There are always ongoing issues such as system maintenance, privacy, security, and confidentiality,  ongoing training, costs, system failure, and so forth that are all associated with IS and we have to see it as just part of what we do.

Techno-illit

Like my friend (and classmate) Jean Doria, I grew up in a third world country without computers. Honestly I didn't even get to touch a typewriter. I told my sons the other day that I should have opted to become a secretary after high school. That would have given me an experience in typing (typing classes were only for those pursuing secretarial jobs). My ten year old planned to give me typing lessons soon. Anyway, my relationship with computers started when email became available and my husband allowed me to use his computer that he mostly use for his teaching job. Later on he bought me my own computer but the only thing I knew was to turn it on and send an email. Eventually it evolved into "googling" and finally a few months ago-Facebook.

I  realize the disadvantage I have over those who grew up or went to school having typewriters or computers but this does not mean that I can continue to make an excuse for not learning to use them. I have several nieces and nephews in the Philippines and one of the main thing I help them with is to have computers so that they will have a better chance with success. My goal in the next few years is to build a public library in my hometown and offer computer classes and other educational-related classes to help improve the lives of the youth as well as adults. Two years ago I donated a couple of computers at a small elementary school in Cebu and had my son teach the school principal and her assistant on how to use the computer. That was exciting to them.

In my most positive attitude, I can say that I will no longer be techno-illiterate by 2012 (when I finish my MSN)!!

Non-school related topic

My heart goes out to Doug Wright and his family. If you don't know who Doug Wright is- he has the Doug Wright Show on KSL. The first time you listen to him you'll get hooked and become a fan. But anyway, his son died on Aug 28 in Washington DC from a fall off the 7th floor of his apartment. He was there for an internship and was planning to be a history teacher after graduation from our beloved university (University of Utah).This is devastating and very sad for his family and to all of us even if we did not know him personally. Life is short. Let's enjoy every moment of it with our loved ones.