This year marks my and my Fidelis Christi Mariae 1993 college classmates’ 30th year as Paulinian nurses. Maybe for that reason, I am a little bit introspective and reflective as I think back on our years in the storied halls of St. Paul College of Iloilo. Those four years were never walks in parks. In fact, they were hard, challenging, and at times, maddening. Nevertheless, I appreciated every skill, knowledge, and attitude (values) I learned from the sisters and our mentors. Those lessons, coupled with the current technological advancements, allow me to continue to evolve as a nurse and as a lifelong learner.

Here is the podcast link if you prefer to listen: https://open.spotify.com/show/0V3X17pByBr6hnDRJU0SfF

A Teacher and a Learner of Technology

Speaking of technology, I really feel that my current role as a nurse informaticist has opened doors I never knew existed. Sure, teaching 8-hour onboarding classes can be draining at times. However, if a learner stops me during rounds and thanks me for helping her know how to utilize the electronic health record (EHR) to document the care that she provides for her patients, that truly makes my day. It is a testament that I was able to fulfill my role and impart knowledge.

If I am able to help a nursing leader extract data from the EHR so that he can track their monthly admission and discharge numbers, I feel validated as a nurse. This is despite the fact that I rarely do bedside nursing anymore. Hard to believe that I collect and analyze data every day even if I struggled in Statistics class, eh?

Nevertheless, I am truly honored to have been a part of notable projects implemented at work of late. Just recently, the very first system outpatient pharmacy within a hospital in our state opened. This was the culmination of many months of project planning and management. My role was very simple – to disseminate information among clinicians. I continue to serve as the bridge between the outpatient folks and the inpatient interdisciplinary team. We brainstorm how we can best provide care for the patients in preparation for discharge. Meds delivery at the bedside? Pick up prior to discharge? Curbside pick up? Those options are all available for the patients’ convenience.

Proposed Systemwide Project

Since we are talking about discharge-related system projects, we are exploring ways how to reduce sepsis readmission rates. Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency if undiagnosed and not treated early. It commonly afflicts older patients with multiple comorbidities and from lower socio-economic status. Obviously, patients who lack access to healthcare tend to have worse outcomes or end up being readmitted. As a curious learner, I wonder if there is a way to improve those readmission incidences while also adequately addressing the social determinants of health of the vulnerable patient population.

Thankfully, there are like-minded stakeholders who also asked the same question. Different disciplines like case management, quality improvement team members, and informaticists like me study workflows and EHR functionalities to identify gaps. That way, we can analyze the status quo processes and advocate for institutional changes that will make the discharge and transition process seamless.

What are the common patients’ needs that are not met during and after discharge? Are there ways to mitigate them? Are there community resources that we can partner with to support the patients post-discharge? How do we prepare the families to take the reigns of providing care at home?

These are some questions that we are still trying to find answers to. At this point, we have outlined the responsibilities of each healthcare team. However, there is an obvious lack of effective handoff between teams. Thus, we think that bridging that gap is a step in the right direction. Presenting these ideas to the higher/executive leadership will be the next step.

That, in a nutshell, is our latest venture in the world of evidence-based practice.

Paying it Forward

I stated earlier that I am both a perpetual teacher and an enthusiastic learner. Related to that, about thirty colleagues started having Lunch and Learn sessions to review for the nursing informatics certification. Even though I already hurdled that challenge, I did not hesitate to volunteer to help out. Some asked me what do I get from that since I already passed my exams.

On the surface, that may be true. Why really bother to spend time and effort preparing a presentation when I don’t need to take the exam myself? However, I recall the time when I was a new and struggling nursing informatics wannabe who did not understand a thing about the role despite my graduate degree in the field. I was a hungry learner then ready to digest any and all materials presented to me. The diverse perspectives and expertise that my colleagues shared with me were invaluable not only in helping me pass the certification exam but really in making me understand my responsibilities more comprehensively.

So why did I raise my hand to be the first presenter for that series of sessions? Because I wanted to set the tone that one need not know it all to impart knowledge. It just takes guts and the willingness to share. Hopefully, I was able to achieve that goal. Moreover, I am looking forward to hearing everyone else’s topics so that I can also nurture the insatiable thirst for knowledge of the learner in me.