July 2, 2012
Response by Jesse Gorman on “
Informatics: Where Is It?” by Linda Thede PhD, RN-BC (January 23, 2012).
with
Reply by author
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your recent article “Informatics: Where Is
It?” by Linda Thede PhD, RN-BC (January 23, 2012). There are many obvious advantages to EMR,
such as continuity of care, reduction in duplicate testing, efficiency for
diagnosing and treating illness, and overall cost effectiveness for healthcare
organizations. However, my biggest
concern lies in the implementation process referred to that will require all
healthcare disciplines to develop an appreciation for the contributions from
all members of the healthcare team. The
elephant analogy was great, I have seen this all too often in my years of ER
nursing. The different teams consulted
all order tests, many repeated tests, without ever looking at what has already
been ordered, or determined, on the patient.
It is almost like no other team members exist, only their
specialty. The system at my current
hospital has a popup that alerts when you order a duplicate test within a
certain time frame. This is definitely a step in the right direction to assist
in a multidisciplinary approach.
My other concern is
that charting is the biggest obstacle facing nursing and EMRs. Nurses are all for anything that can save
time during their shift. I am cautiously
optimistic that a system can be created that will actually be an effective time
saver. The systems I have worked with
vary in their user friendliness; some are down-right unfriendly and time
wasters! Most nurses I speak with oppose
many of the EMRs currently out there because nurses need to be able to remember
a patient by their charting and many check box systems do not make this
possible.
I also agree that the scanning of handwritten
patient records needs to be eliminated; deciphering handwriting is too
time-consuming and leaves open an opportunity for error. I am hopeful that the
addition of basic informatics into nursing school curricula is another step in
the right direction, especially with graduate degrees that specialize in Nursing
Informatics. I believe it will take
nurses to develop systems that can achieve the success we are striving for with
EMRs.
Jesse Gorman, RN
University of Texas
at El Paso
RN to BSN Nursing Student
Jrgorman@miner.utep.edu