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The Keys To Better Home Care
Tap a key and save a life? That’s a distinct possibility at Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester!
At VNSW, when nurses conduct home visits, their standard equipment includes more than the stethoscope, thermometer and notepad typical of years gone by. Today, each VNSW nurse carries a state-of-the-art laptop computer, and, with a few quick keystrokes, has immediately available all the necessary data to properly evaluate strategy and most effectively treat the patient. This approach has been evolving since 1995, when VNSW became the area’s first agency to integrate the use of laptops into its homecare routine.
 VNSW's Pam Nassisi, leading a computer session at the agency's new state-of-the-art facility. |
Pam Nassisi, RN, BSN, oversees staff education at VNSW and is responsible for training the agency’s nurses on both the use of laptop computers and the particulars of home health care as opposed to general nursing.
“When it comes to home care, because of the way our nurses use their laptops, we are at the forefront, the cutting edge,” says Pam. “The advantages, particularly to the patients and their immediate caregivers, are many.”
Principal among the advantages, according to Pam, is instant access to drug information. “All of our medications are on laptop,” she explains, “so we know immediately what we need to know, instead of a nurse having to carry around a book that can very quickly become outdated. We also have instant access to the uses of drugs, side effects and interactions of all drugs that a specific patient may be taking at any given time. This is vitally important, because of one of the major reasons for hospitalization in this country is difficulty with medications.”
Equally important is that any VNSW nurse, visiting any patient, has immediate access to the patient’s entire, up-to-date medical record. “If I write a note on Tuesday,” says Pam, “nobody has to wait for me to come to the office on Wednesday or Thursday with a piece of paper to transfer data. All updates are always available in real time to anyone who needs them.”
All this adds up to major savings of time, dollar and human resources, a benefit to the patient, the agency and the community in general. “Westchester is a large geographic area,” explains Pam, “and nurses could travel 40 miles or more during the course of a day’s work. By using their laptops, the nurses don’t have to come into the office as much, and can, instead, remain in the field to see more patients, urgent because of the nursing shortage currently in effect. This fully-integrated system also allows for much more efficient billing, a plus to the entire system and the society that pays for it.”
From day-one of their service to VNSW and its patients, all nurses are trained by Pam and immediately put on laptop to achieve these benefits. “It’s a very extensive orientation that lasts approximately 8 weeks,” she explains, “50% in the classroom combined with 50% practical work out in the field, initially supervised by an experienced nurse.”
“The transition to laptop computers has brought the nurses, the patients and VNSW together into a new era!” |
During a typical year, Pam conducts 3-4 orientation classes, simultaneously developing skills in home health care and laptop use. “It’s very interesting,” observes Pam. “The older nurses know home care and need the laptop instruction, while the younger nurses are more computer-savvy but need the home health care piece. It’s a matter of nursing experience versus computer knowledge, but, in the end, it evens out and they all emerge with the knowledge and support they need.”
Pam has been a nurse for over 30 years, with 25+ experience in home care. Over the years, according to Pam, she has done “almost every job there is” at VNSW and was abundantly qualified to take on the challenge of modernizing the complex maze of treatment and administrative procedures that had been the norm.
“When we first fully integrated homecare orientation with laptop training about 3 years ago,” explains Pam, “I was confronted with the realization that committing to a change from paper-first to laptop was going to involve a major, cultural mind change. Our orientation to homecare was originally done in 2 segments. First the nurse was acclimated to homecare nursing, and then, at month 4, trained on the laptop. We thought it was too much to fully integrate the orientation. I was afraid that the nursing care would suffer because this would be too difficult for the staff, but I was wrong!
“The complete transition to laptop actually made all aspects of homecare easier for new staff – they loved having all the information at their fingertips. Actually, in the end, it assisted the nurses, the patients and the agency, and brought us all together into a new era!”
The training of nurses and the purchase of laptop computers is made possible in part by the generosity of VNSW’s donors. Your continued support is vital and greatly appreciated!
E-mail for more info, or call (914) 682-1480
