Module 1

Hello, I am Michelle Torgersen. I am currently in the FNP program. As a graduate level nurse, I fell that it is important to know all areas of information management because of the role I will play as a FNP. Hospitals and even clinics are requiring nurses and staff to use databases and access their patient's information through computers. Myself as a Med/ Surg manager are required to do spreadsheets as well as keeping current on new computer flow sheets that need to be generated for my facility.I had the opportunity to help build and introduce our electronic charting into our facility. It was a total nightmare at first because I had to figure out the program, and then try to learn to build the flow sheets, assessments and vital records for the nursing staff to chart on. Our hospital has been electronic now for approximately 3 years and the bugs are still not all worked out. I have seen the nurses go from refusal, to acceptance to frustration. It is hard for a nurse who has done paper charting for 30 years to turn around one day and be expected to learn computer charting when she is unfamiliar with even turning the computer on. Within my practice, I see all the documentation as well as billing for Medicaid and Medicare. I am aware of the coding that goes on as well as the billing for a critical access hospital, in which we are. One problem I see with electronic record is that after a few years of electronic documentation and the computers decide to crash, everyone panics, and forgets what to do when technology decides to fail on us. We forget how we use to do it. Structured clinical data is very important in promoting quality of care because for one reason, it allows other practitioners to access what has been done with that patient to have continuity of care. Everyone is on the same page because they are all able to access the same record.