By having access to better resources (information technology) does it provide better care?

How far has healthcare come for nurses? Do we see a time when we will laugh and say, "remember when mobile phones were banned from hospitals because of the interference with radio frequency cardiac monitors". I feel nurses in Ireland are getting more and more interested in new and emerging technology and how it can be applied to our working practices. Nurses are asking me - what are apps? I think the best way to describe an app is a piece of software program designed for smart phones and other computing devices, such a the one we designed to double check drug calculations (Dosage Calc).

 I found as a Clinical facilitator and when I read many articles about medication management, how nurses are anxious when it comes to drug calculations on the ward or in the classroom (as an examination MCQ's). Calculations of drugs is a skill that can create stress and worry for many. The fear is when the calculation are incorrect, this will lead to a drug error.

This is one of the main reasons in developing our App.Dosage Calc. to give the nurse more assurance when she/he double check their calculations- it removes the nagging feeling. We wanted to design an easy and simple application that is reliable and accurate. We advise users to use the "flight mode" to ensure it will not interfere with cardiac monitoring of the hospital.  I would like you to take time out and review this application. Just google: Dosage Calc.- Sekos

 Drug administration errors have been shown to be frequent and serious. There are many reasons for drug errors. Some drug errors can occur at any of the following stages: from when the doctor prescribes the drug, to the pharmacist that dispenses the drug to lastly the nurse who administers the drug to the patient.

According to Kopp et al (2006) reports from his study on medication errors, that a lack of drug knowledge was the cause of 10% of errors and slips and memory lapses were responsible for 40% errors at the administration stage. As a clinical facilitator I find these figures not surprising, (Colera et al 1998) found that nearly a third of communications were interrupted, with an interruption rate of 11 per hour.

What is interesting is how (Moss et al 2008) in their summary states, how nurses who are administering many drugs and multiple drugs at the same time; how they are often interrupted: and rarely seek information regarding correct administration, even when this information is readily available. This is where I feel is the future of mobile clinical references are becoming a necessity to access current and evidence-based information at the ward level (at the point of care). What are your feeling on this subject??

References

Kopp, B. Erstad, B. Allen, M. Theodorou, A. Prestley, G. (2006). Medication errors and adverse drug events in an intensive care unit: Direct observation approach for detection. Critical care Medicine.34(2): 415-425

Moss, J. (2005) Technological system solutions to clinical communication errors. Journal of Nursing Administration 35(2)

RESPIRATORY CONFERENCE NOTES

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in getting the power points published. I have one more power point that I am waiting for,  Dr. S. Ryan, Respiratory Consultant, has promised that she will forward on her power point to me when she has the time.

I was very happy with the pre/post survey results from the conference. The findings were very positive. Its looks like we had a very attentive group and by the results ye all benefited from the day. Thank you again for taking part in the survey. If you have any comments - good or bad, please reply by using the comment box provided on the blog.

Oh, the winning ticket was number 83.

Now here are the power points presentations that were promised.
A list of Conference from April to September 2011 :  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HimjaqYqlPq3JuCvKwhmrvewMkGPGAv-mJDQGAshXsM/edit?hl=en_US#

The anatomy and physiology of the Respiratory system:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AfiCRfy-aXfjZG45cGg0bl8zOGNoZ3RyNGRy&hl=en_US

Oxygen therapy:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AfiCRfy-aXfjZG45cGg0bl8yMWNqZnJ6N2Zr&hl=en_US

Pulmonary Tuberculosis:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_iCRfy-aXfjM2QyODJjN2YtODUxNy00NDg2LTk3ZmUtYjhmODkyOGVkYTc5&hl=en_US

Medication used in Respiratory conditions:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_iCRfy-aXfjYjYyYjE3OTMtZmJmOC00NThhLWE4ZDEtZjIzYmExMWI2Yjlh&hl=en_US

Nutrition in chronic lung disease:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AfiCRfy-aXfjZG45cGg0bl8xMTR3aGhmZzVjag&hl=en_US

COPD;
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_iCRfy-aXfjMGExNzljYmItMTQwNi00OTlmLWIxZGEtMGM5ZTZlYjRhY2I3&hl=en_US

Getting ready for the Respiratory Conference day on the 19th May 2011.

Dear diary:
In the process of getting everything ready for the 19th May. Speakers not only are organised but are really excited about the day.  They have put a lot of work into their presentations. My presentation is centered around drug errors. Although much has been written on the severity of drug errors, there is very little research in the nursing literature, specifically examining methods of dealing with poor medication calculation and the mathematical skills of nurses.

As we know the doctor prescribes the drug, the pharmacist dispenses the drugs and finally the nurse is responsible for administering the medication to the patient. Each nurse is accountable for the preparing, checking and administering, updating her/his knowledge of the medications (too numerous to estimate), monitoring the effectiveness of the treatment, reporting adverse reactions and teaching patients. And yet administering medication is just part of the nurses workload. The nurse has to function in a busy, understaffed, under resourced  department with very little financial reward. Tell me, would this workload have anything to do with staff retention? Here am I rambling again - I am just passionate about the whole process where nurses are administering medication and yet I feel there is very little support for that nurse!!

Getting back to the 19th May, I hope you will enjoy the day. I hope it will be as successful as the day we had for the cardiac conference on the 19th April 2011.

Can I just add that, yes,  I did promise to post up the power point presentations from our successful respiratory conference held last Thursday 19/5/11 - some of the lectures wanted to make some ammendements to thier presentations so, I should be able to post the complete conference notes on Friday the 27th May 2011.

Oh yes, I will have the winning ticket results to our fantastic prize also on that date....Good Luck