Keeping Nurses Engaged and Up to Speed After EMR Implementation - Part 1
the Tech Talk Nurse
October 19, 2011
Welcome to the first edition of the NURSE Tech Talk blog! This series, written by me, the
somewhat anonymous "Tech Talk Nurse" - offers a venue for my fellow nurses, nurse informaticists,
physicians, CIOs and other clinicians to bridge nursing and IT in a time of rapid healthcare
change. I'll share my nursing experiences with healthcare IT, and will often share the blogging
stage with colleagues who also would like to share theirs. Anonymity is not required! Let's
continue the conversation at
HITR.com - a new affiliate of Billian's HealthDATA that offers
healthcare providers and vendors healthcare IT benchmarking and social networking opportunities.
Feel free to join the Nurse Tech Talk group on HITR.com as well! Interested in guest blogging?
Connect and let's talk!
So your EMR is live and in place. Now comes the real challenge: How do you keep nurses
engaged with ongoing training when they work long hours and need to get home to families and other
responsibilities? Based on my nursing experience, I've learned that an enhanced end-user experience
post implementation leads to increased adoption of the EMR application, and helps to avoid user
errors. To keep fresh in EMR use, nurses need post competencies and check-offs that will fit into
their workflow and diverse schedules.
Engage the Staff
I asked Michele Burk, RN CPON, MSN, Clinical Transformation Program Manager at Steven and
Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York, what she has found to be most effective in
keeping nurses engaged and competent. "Having quick, repetitive education sessions, keeping lines
of communication open, following up on the issues brought forth at go-live and circling back around
with them once a resolution or update is available has been key," she says. "Giving them the
specifics about the program that can make their life easier - the tricks of the trade, so to speak
- has been helpful. These specifics are too much to absorb during the go-live period."
Continue reading
this
blog at HITR.com ...
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