Technology in the news

Hospitals and Health Networks magazine has an article about the implementation of IT on nursing in a rural hospital setting. Another article, also in this same magazine discusses wireless technology.

Since I carry a PalmPilot wherever I go, I'd be happy if there were more publicly accessible wireless access points in hospitals. It's very handy especially if your cell phone doesn't work well in the hospital.

One thing leads to another...

My post on a PDA question in one area led to this guest post on www.realityrn.com, which is a nursing site geared to new nurses.

See more on the story about technology and new nurses at www.realityrn.com.

Informatics in the news

While it's not the most earth-shattering article out there, my local paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which addresses business healthcare issues on Wednesdays, has an article about the growing field of informatics in healthcare.

And in the better late than never section...I forgot to mention this recent article which talks about AHLTA and VistA (Armed forces and VA computer systems) from Heathcare IT News.

New nurses and technology

As a nurse, technology does markedly affect my job. I am surrounded by it in a plethora of PCs, pumps, and other assorted devices. If you thought you knew everything there is to know about technology, you will learn even more once you hit the floor of your local hospital. We are surrounded by devices in every aspect of our daily lives, so hospitals and other healthcare facilities are no different.

What do you need to know about the technology, if you are new to nursing? First, be comfortable with the skills you already have. They can readily be used in new applications. Second, be willing to invest time in learning those new skills. Thankfully, many of the technology folks who create those applications you use to check labs, fill out forms and complete your charting realize that simple applications are usually better. Third, learn what the standards are at your workplace. You can often find resources in your nursing education department, on your local workplace intranet or with your friendly technology support staff. Use every resource available to you.

Finally, if you want to carry your resources around with you, and your facility permits it, get your favorite device and put various resources on it. I couldn't have made it through nursing school or my first year as a nurse without my Palm TX and my medication, lab and medical dictionary references on it. Knowledge is power, so don’t be afraid. Go out and learn!

SINI starts tomorrow

SINI (aka Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics) starts tomorrow at the University of Maryland. The hi-blogs.info group will have coveritlive sessions during the conference.

If you're even remotely interested in informatics, be sure to check it out.

Never assume...

That was my lesson this week. I work with a lot of very experienced nurses who know a lot of things. I found out this week that many of them do not know how to use many of the office automation tools we have access to on our computers.

Case in point, one nurse needed help dealing with attachments in Outlook. Another needed information on how to open attached PDFs and fill them out. Still another needed help troubleshooting what was going wrong with her e-mail.

We have an assigned support person (who, incidentally has another job besides user support) but she's on vacation. As a result, yours truly got to be the support tech on the floor. I don't mind it at all, but it does show how technology skills are being thought of as natural requirements, especially for new nurses, most of whom, have worked with technology during their entire nursing school experience. Happily, our hospital system is recognizing the need for additional computer training for both nurses and ancillary staff and is making it available to those who wish to utilize it.

Here are a few articles of note on this subject.

A new definition for nursing informatics (from AdvanceWEB)
This editorial describes the field of nursing informatics.

This article, The impact of information technology on nursing practice and knowledge by Melanie Anne Cox was featured in a book called Consumer-Centered Computer-Supported Healthcare for Healthy People.

Telehealth and the VA

In this age of rising fuel and healthcare costs, telehealth is becoming more important.

The VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) health system is using telehealth both for convenience and greater access to care for US military veterans. The Office of Care Coordination discusses the various telehealth initiatives of the VA.

Here is some feedback about the VA's telehealth model: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9491&page=1