Barbara Dixon Module 6
Hunter,
K. (June 2011). Implementation of an Electronic Medication Administration
Record and Bedside Verification System. Online Journal of Nursing
Informatics (OJNI), 15 (2)
Why was this article, blog,
post, or multimedia chosen?
I chose
this article because it recognizes the importance of using technology and
knowledge management to improve healthcare safety and costs.
What makes it interesting,
appropriate, or reputable?
Hunter
(2011) explains that patient safety at the point of medication administration
is increased with eMARs. The warnings,
alerts, and parameter checks that are in place will facilitate a safer
medication administration. Nurses will
be reminded to check heart rate, lab results, and pain scales, ultimately
helping the nurse to administer medications in a safer manner. The use of an eMAR will also improve
medication administration by keeping an accurate schedule for administration
and prevent medications from being administered to patients that have allergies
to the medication (Hunter, 2011).
Is it
an opinion? Case study? Research study? Product review?
This
article was a product review of the eMAR systems
What was the need, problem,
issue or trend addressed in the article, blog, post, or multimedia?
What was the solution for which
technology had an answer?
What implications might this
have in healthcare delivery?
Safety - Information technology can
improve the quality of care for patients by reducing adverse drug events, and
improving safety measures. The warnings, alerts, and parameter checks that are
in place will facilitate a safer medication administration. Nurses will be reminded to check heart rate,
lab results, allergies, and pain scales when appropriate, ultimately helping
the nurse to administer medications in a safer manner. Also, improve medication administration by
keeping an accurate schedule for administration, helping to prevent medications
from being given too late or too early.
Eliminate the need to write
duplicate orders, and Save time and money - Eliminate the need to reconcile and
rewrite the paper MARs at the end of each month. Incomplete documentation of
medication administration creates problems when audits are done. In some cases, occurrence of incomplete
documentation results in a fine of $2,500 per incident (Russo, 2007).
What did you learn from it that
might have application for your practice?
Long-term care (LTC) facilities have
a growing need to adopt information technology.
However, the adoption rate has remained low due to many reasons such financial
budgets. The sub-acute care unit has
been accepting clients from hospitals in south Jersey at an increasing rate,
which demands improved technologies to facilitate safer care and improved
financial outcomes. An implementation of
the eMAR would improve patient safety and reduce costs.
Hunter, K. (June
2011). Implementation of an Electronic Medication Administration Record and
Bedside Verification System. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI),
15 (2), Retrieved from: http://ojni.org/issues/?p=672
Russo, M. (2007). New eMAR solutions reduce ADEs,
improve workflow and decrease nursing staff stress. Retrieved from:
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/article/paperless-medication-administration
I would really like to see these systems move into LTC facilities. I have been employed in an LTC in my past and there is nothing like passing meds to 30 patients with dementia.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! You hit the nail on the head. Implementation of anything is very difficult because there is poor communication and education strategy at the Hammonton Center. Ultimately, poor communication results in poor teamwork. Teamwork and communication are both strongly intertwined. The change would need to start with upper management setting the example and keeping everyone informed. Unfortunately when projects are not meeting milestones on time, management will use a technique such as adding more people to the project to try to catch up. Schwalbe (2015) provides great examples of why this is not a useful strategy. If a project has two months of work for one employee to accomplish, putting a second employee on the project does not mean it can be completed in one month. She Compares it to the concept of nine pregnant women will not produce a baby in one month (Schwalbe, 2015). Organizations that communicate with their people know the importance keeping the energy and enthusiasm of their employees heading in the same direction towards accomplishing organizational goals. The business strategy and the communication strategy must be well planned and complement each other. Internal Communication needs a strong well-planned strategy so that employees can utilize the information and knowledge to produce creative and informed actions and decisions that will produce more value to the company (Quirke, 2008).
ReplyDeleteReferences
Quirke, B. (2008). Making the connections using internal communication to turn strategy into action (2nd Ed.).Burlington, Vt: Growler Publishing Company.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Project communications management. In Schwalbe, K. (Eds.), Information Technology project management (8th ed.)(pp. 389-424) Boston, MA.: Cengage Learning.