A “Thanks to Nurses” Follow Up

About a month ago, I posted Healthcare IT Observations and Thanks to Nurses! in which I discussed supporting my mom through bi-lateral mastectomy at a hospital that had recently gone live on their EMR. At the end of this post after my Health IT comments, I included a big “thank you!” to all the nurses that were charged with her care throughout her one night stay. To my delight, this spurred a blog discussion about nurses and how they have shaped EMRs and the Health IT industry via Shirley Corsey. These discussions spur thought and move us forward as professionals and the greater industry.

I am writing this post to thank a nurse in particular in the St. Alphonsus Cancer Care Center who may be responsible for saving my mom. Nurse Penny identified a misplaced chemotherapy port which, to make a long story short, landed my mom in the Cardiovascular ICU. Had Penny not been there, my mom might not be here.

Of course this has me thinking about healthcare, cancer, as well as Health IT. I believe that many of us get caught up (easy to do) in workflow analysis, the political landscape of an implementation, the build, and the myriad of problems that arise. However, it seems worth a reminder that Health IT is a catalyst for the improvement of patient care and that nurses and clinicians are systematically responsible for the patient.

So here is a little more about nurses for you compliments of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS predicts there will be over three million nurses caring for patients in 2018, a 22% increase from 2008. Pretty impressive stuff. For all of you who are a nurse or know an aspiring nurse, there are quite a few resources toward the end of that page.

So I encourage you to take a moment to think about Health IT, patient care, and the nurses that make it happen. Penny, I owe you big time.

About the author

Cassie Sturdevant

Cassie Sturdevant is a Senior Recruiter for Impact Advisors, a healthcare IT strategic and implementation services consulting firm just named 2013 Best in KLAS for Overall Services. She specializes in humor and follow up.

2 Comments

  • Cassie,

    What a warm and wonderful way to salute the nurse that may have saved your mom’s life! And I love the way you reminded us of what should be the MAIN reason for the fast evolving method and subsequent EMR Job industry market explosion – PATIENT CARE AND SAFETY!

    Thanks!
    Shirley

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