’s
November 27, 2015 edition
The Pulse
Your regular check up on SCKMC activities Share your thoughts, story ideas, and comments by e-mail to claytonp@sckrmc.org.
New ER System Improves Patient Care SCKMC is two months into the implementation of a new electronic medical records system for its emergency department. The new system is designed to make the patient’s information more accessible to healthcare providers, both within the emergency department and for follow up care. “We have the ability to have a singular system that communicates throughout the patient experience,” said John Jones, SCKMC’s Incoming Director of Nursing. The hospital previously used paper charting for emergency room patients. That information then had to be uploaded into the patient’s medical record after the visit. “This has eliminated a lot of extra paperwork. We no longer have to print out our provider, nursing, or lab documentation. It was always very time consuming, making the copies and sorting things out,” said Bonnie Schieber, RN and SCKMC’s team leader for the Emergency Department. Hospital staff believe that the new system not only cuts down on paperwork, but also provides several improvements to the care process. More detailed record keeping, timely access to prior health information, and improved communication with both internal departments and the telehospitalist physicians are just a few of the improvements mentioned. However, both Schieber and Jones believe the biggest improvement that will be noticed by the ER patient is the increased time spent by staff at the patient’s bedside. “We are able to chart at the bedside rather than paper documentation which would usually be done at the nurse’s station. When we document at bedside we interact more with the patient. In the ER we are pretty fast paced, so anything that allows the opportunity for that one-on-one is a good thing,” Schieber said. Jones agrees, “Listening to the patient is probably the single most important thing that we do. It is our most valuable diagnostic tool, to just simply listen to the patient. No physician or nurse will ever know that patient as well as that patient knows himself.” The next phase of SCKMC’s electronic medical records system is to connect it with the systems used in local physician offices. The connected systems would allow physicians access to patient’s hospital records from their office, and could eventually send notifications to the provider when one of their patients is treated in the ER or admitted to the hospital. “Work is underway building that bridge,” Jones said.
Healthy Living: The Great American Smokeout Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout. They may use the date to make a plan to quit, or quit smoking that day. If you missed this year’s Smokeout it’s not too late to quit. Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have support, such as telephone smoking-cessation hotlines, support groups, counseling, nicotine replacement products, prescription medicine to lessen cravings, and/or encouragement and support from friends and family members. Telephone stop-smoking hotlines are an easy-to-use resource, and they are available in all 50 states. Call 1-800-227-2345 to find telephone counseling or other support in your area. Annual Great American Smokeout events began in the 1970s, when smoking and secondhand smoke were commonplace. Smokeout events challenge people to stop using tobacco and helps people know about the many tools they can use to help them quit and stay quit. From 1965 to today, cigarette smoking among adults in the United States decreased from more than 42% to around 18%. Still, today about 1 in 5 US adults smoke cigarettes (that’s more than 43.6 million people). Nearly 15 million people smoke tobacco in cigars or pipes. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women. Smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the US. Another 8.6 million people live with serious illnesses caused by smoking. For more information on this topic visit www.cancer.org.
Adams Elementary Students Brighten Patients Holiday Honor students, known as Self-Managers, from Adams Elementary participated in a special community service project by creating get well cards for SCKMC’s patients. School Counselor Allyson Smith (pictured left) oversees the school program and delivered the finished artwork earlier in the week. The cards will be distributed to patients in our med/surg and ICU departments. “My thanksgiving wish is for all of our Hospital Family to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.” - Virgil Watson, CEO
Give the Gift of Health This holiday season consider a gift to the Medical Center. Your donation will benefit our community for decades to come. Giving to the hospital helps us continue to provide the best in medical care right here, close to home. We offer a number of approaches to support our programs. Gifting opportunities range from providing support to name a portion of the new facility, to providing funding that can assist in providing new equipment or sponsoring programs.
Call or visit us on-line and find out how you can share the gift of health.
We are 6401 Patterson Parkway, Arkansas City 6401 Patterson Parkway, Arkansas City
www.sckmc.org
(620) 442-2500