Changing the process in a changing environment: Going from paper to computer documentation in an Emergency Department.
Posted Dec 23 2008 9:14pm
Keeping pace with many other healthcare systems and organizations my hospital is launching its first electronic documentation system next week in the emergency department. From the beginning as with every hospital all of the documentation of care was done with a multitude of forms which were deleted, added, and revised over the years as healthcare changed. Some time ago they ended up going with the “T-Sheet” system but come next week the pen will be replaced with the keyboard.
Over the last several months as you would imagine there has been much discussion about the new system. Many meetings have been convened, and more recently lots of training for the staff and the development of super users have been completed. I was one of the lucky ones to be dubbed a super user – go team.
Navigating a computer keyboard as well as the ins and outs of a computer and most software has always been exciting for me, I consider myself fairly computer literate. I may not be Bill Gates or Peter Norton, but I can hold my own just nicely. Unfortunately, not everyone loves computers and not everyone is comfortable or literate with them.
Several of the staff who are less comfortable with computers are already dreading the fateful day. I have taken some enjoyment in watching some of my colleagues get spun up over this transition. It will be very entertaining to watch some of the staff struggle with this new paperless system. In the end I suspect everyone will survive. Perhaps a few broken nails, or at worst a few aching heads at the end of the day, not much else.
Clearly the change will narrow a few folks pulse pressure a bit and cause some rise in intracranial pressure, hopefully not enough to herniate, but who knows, never say never. The ironic piece to all this is that these folks, emergency department (ED) physicians, ED nurses, and other ancillary staff all work in a fluid environment. Few things are constant, and if they are constant it is not for long. Emergency departments change, minute by minute as do patient conditions, and a host of other items. The average ED staff person is very accustom to change. However, with the establishment of a paperless documentation system [a change] it is interesting to see the reactions to this change from healthcare professionals who work in a changing environment all the time. In that change typically causes most of us some undue level of stress and few people like change, I find it fascinating to see the reactions.
Over the last several months as you would imagine there has been much discussion about the new system. Many meetings have been convened, and more recently lots of training for the staff and the development of super users have been completed. I was one of the lucky ones to be dubbed a super user – go team.
Navigating a computer keyboard as well as the ins and outs of a computer and most software has always been exciting for me, I consider myself fairly computer literate. I may not be Bill Gates or Peter Norton, but I can hold my own just nicely. Unfortunately, not everyone loves computers and not everyone is comfortable or literate with them.
Several of the staff who are less comfortable with computers are already dreading the fateful day. I have taken some enjoyment in watching some of my colleagues get spun up over this transition. It will be very entertaining to watch some of the staff struggle with this new paperless system. In the end I suspect everyone will survive. Perhaps a few broken nails, or at worst a few aching heads at the end of the day, not much else.
Clearly the change will narrow a few folks pulse pressure a bit and cause some rise in intracranial pressure, hopefully not enough to herniate, but who knows, never say never. The ironic piece to all this is that these folks, emergency department (ED) physicians, ED nurses, and other ancillary staff all work in a fluid environment. Few things are constant, and if they are constant it is not for long. Emergency departments change, minute by minute as do patient conditions, and a host of other items. The average ED staff person is very accustom to change. However, with the establishment of a paperless documentation system [a change] it is interesting to see the reactions to this change from healthcare professionals who work in a changing environment all the time. In that change typically causes most of us some undue level of stress and few people like change, I find it fascinating to see the reactions.