Archive for July 31st, 2009

E-Learning

July 31, 2009

As a nurse, learning never stops. You have to maintain your license, obtain CE credits, certifications, and facility education requirements. Hospitals have tried several ways to have all nurses compliant. By providing lunch and learns, take home packets, mandatory staff meetings, or coming in on your day off to complete all your requirements. Many nurses get frustrated with this, they don’t want to stay after there shift, or come in on there day off, or read a packet of information. Many hospitals are now using E-learning, which is a form of online education. Each healthcare worker is assigned there list of courses to complete with a due date. Managers are able to track who is compliant. CE courses are even provided. Nurses can access this at work or at home. The company I work for even provides e-learning courses free of charge for hospital nurses. For example if JACHO arrives and ask you to prove if there staff is competent with a product. As the manager you can pull up there e-learning records and show proof of completion. Making our busy nurse lives easier!!

Continuing Education Credits and Courses online

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Posted in Healthcare Informatics Education, Healthcare Informatics Resources, Nursing Education | Leave a Comment »

Stress and workload, comment

July 31, 2009

You are not alone….working full time, family responsibilities, and going to school is stressful. I have heard people comment when I say I am taking online classes "well that is different". But online classes are not any less stressful than going to campus. It takes alot of discipline and organizational skills to take online classes. We all know the effects of stress on our body and health. Focusing on the big picture and your overall goals, will help keep you focused. I found allowing time to your self each day even if its only 30 minute of going outside, or riding my bike, brings my stress level down. Take advantage of the new education opportunities, I feel it is very important for nurses to complete there BSN.

Original Post:
June 15, 2009
Title: Stress and workload
Stress and workload; I thought it was appropriate to discuss stress because that’s exactly what I am feeling about my degree program. It does feature online interaction and computer use. The purpose of my degree program was to prepare myself on how to be a better Community Health Nurse; I did not think it was to send time on academic work. I went to bed last night feeling very stressed. My workday is already 9 hours long and by the time I get to my computer at night I am already tired and stressed. What am I going to do about it? I don’t know. I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way. Many Nurses are already feeling the strain of work, family, education etc. I graduated from Nursing in 1982 at the ripe age of 19; it was a 3-year diploma program. Now it’s all about the degree and it is becoming increasingly difficult for diploma nurses to move forward in their career. With the national nursing shortage one would think the government would concentrate on more effective ways for diploma nurses to bridge over to their degree. I can’t afford to take 2 years off to go back to school and taking a course at a time I will be ready to retire by the time I get my degree.

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Posted in Healthcare Informatics Education, Nursing Education, Public Health Nursing | Leave a Comment »

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

July 31, 2009

As nurses and health care workers move away from hand written charting and only document on the computer are they at risk for carpal tunnel syndrome? Over my 7 year career as a nurse I have noted several nurses going in for carpal tunnel surgery, many unit secretaries wearing wrist braces. Carpal tunnel is caused by repetitive motion of the wrist, often found in typists. Symptoms of carpal tunnel are weakness, pain, and tingling in the hand , that may even radiate to the forearm and shoulder. I am curious if any research has been done on the increase risk for health care workers. In a field that one wouldn’t think would be spent typing frequently. As technology advances we do more and more from out computers.

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Posted in Healthcare Informatics Computers | 1 Comment »

Documentation of Bedsores, comment

July 31, 2009

I found this post and other comments relative to my new nursing job. As an experienced ER nurse, we found little time to assess or document pressure ulcers. With the new CMS guidelines that came out this past October, Medicare will not longer be reimbursing for facility acquired pressure ulcers. My new nursing role focuses on prevention and education. I was very surprised how little I knew about pressure ulcers from working in the ED. Yet it is so vital that our assessment starts there. The photo proof documentation mentioned in this Post sounds like an excellent idea. One of the hospitals I work with, just installed a whole new soft ware program for nursing documentation. It is really easy to chart your skin assessments and pressure ulcers. With drop down choices, body diagrams. But the wound care nurse still has to validate the floor nurses documentation with her own patient assessment every month. I helped her with this, and it was very time consuming. It was double the work in my eyes. Yet we did find, many pressure ulcers that were resolved and many that were staged incorrectly, as well as several that were missed by the RN. Even though we have many different technologies to help us with our documentation and assessment, it still comes down to basic education.

Original Post:
June 17, 2009
Title: Documentation of Bedsores
Joint Commission and CMS (Medicare) has set a Patient Safety Goal of not allowing bedsores to occur during hospitalizations. My institution uses technology to document existing wounds at the time of admission assessment. We are a totally computerized charting hospital. When we identify an existing wound, we bring up a screen of the body and insert a photo of the wound into the patient’s medical record. This feature allows us to prevent lawsuits and receive the correct reimbursement of that patient’s hospitalization. Health assessment no longer has to rely on a verbal or hand written dictation to describe history and physical assessments!

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Posted in Computer Charting, Health Assessment | Leave a Comment »

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