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Hello Everyone and Welcome to my Second Blog for Module 4

            I will explore Darbyshire article on ‘Rage against the machine?’: Nurses’ and midwives ‘experiences of using computerized patient information systems for clinical information. After reading the article, I will provide a recommendation on how to address both the technical failure of the system described. I will also explore strategies use in my current place of employment when implementing a new system or software.

            To start, I will provide a brief overview of the article. The article is a response to ‘‘Rage against the machine?’’: nurses ‘and midwives’ experiences of using computerized patient information systems for clinical information”. The nurses and midwives had negative perceptions and experiences using a computerized patient information system (CPIS). Nurses believed that the CPIS was cumbersome and did not reflect their practice. It is suggested that if effective change management were in place, the implementation of CPIS would have been successful. The aspects of change management include communication, organizational aspects, and leadership. Communication is key among the nurses and the management team on the implementation of CPIS. Second is the responsibility to listen to the nurse’s suggestion, feedback, and ways to enhance the system for it to be successful. Next is organizational aspects, which are to provide statistical evidence on the effect of CPIS. Leadership is the third aspect. Leaders must take an active role to ensure complete ownership of the system (CPIS) before implementation (Darbyshire, 2006).

            Reading the article, I felt the author was critical of the management team who implemented the CPIS. It was the management team fault for the nurses and midwives to have such a negative perception of the computer patient information system (CPIS). I felt the author assume the nurses and midwives were resistive regarding the CPIS machine. However, it is a possibility the nurses require further training to have a better understating of the value of the CPIS system. I felt the nurses and midwives should have been interviewed to gain a more in-depth understanding of why the nurses did not believe the CPIS had a positive outcome on their nursing practice. Although the author suggested great ideas on how to implement a new system, I believe the author was critical of the team who implemented the CPIS. The system might not even be user-friendly, which could be another issue. An important factor I felt which was not mentioned is the age range of the nurses. They might not like new technology and prefer old school documentation or system. Not every technology is beneficial for every facility. After an in-depth analysis is completed from the nurses perspective then new strategies can be implanted to address the issue.

Recommendation/Strategies used at my place of employment

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When implementing a new program into my place of employment, about a month or two months, the educator call for in-service and introduce the nurses to the system and its benefits. The nurses will comment on what they like and do not like about the program. The educator then provides feedback to the management team. The educator will provide details on when the program will be implemented. About three weeks, the educator and the team have a second meeting and provide information on the nurse’s feedback for the last meeting.  Nurses on the unit are selected, or at times volunteer, to be trained on the program and are called superusers and encourage the other staff to use the new system. The training session is set up throughout the week to facilitate all three shifts.  On the day of introduction, balloon, coffee, and training staff on each unit to ensure a smooth transition of the new system. The nurses can ask questions;  with the experts on the floor. The above strategies appear effective at my place of employment. On the other hand, if the nurses are not informed and then they are required to use the new system with minimal information, then they become upset and resistive. I believe changes are difficult, and often some individuals do not adjust well to changes, but if the nurses feel valued and apart of the team, they will adjust and learn the new system.

Reference

Darbyshire, P. (2006). To DeZarns commentary on Darbyshire P (2004) Rage against the machine?: Nurses and midwives experiences of using computerized patient information systems for clinical information. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 15(8), 1060-1061. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01421.x Accent 3;\lsd

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=computer information systems&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw_bmgwsjiAhXpwVkKHcEtDA0Q_AUIECgB&biw=1366&bih=651