Incorporating Electronic Documentation into Nursing Curriculum: Collaboration between Hospital and Community College
Julie Rivers, RN, BScN
Simulation Specialist
Loyalist College, School of Health and Human Studies
Mary Kay Houle, RN, MScN
Coordinator Clinical Documentation
Quinte Health Care
Carol Cooke RN, MHS
Applications Consultant
Quinte Health Care
Quinte Health Care (QHC) Corporation is a four hospital site in south-eastern Ontario that uses Meditech as its information system. Electronic documentation (eDoc) was implemented at QHC in 2006. This software changed the documentation processes not only for staff at QHC but also for nursing students from Loyalist College, the local community college.
Nursing leaders from QHC and the Loyalist College Nursing Program collaborated on a project to incorporate QHC's documentation methodology into the Loyalist College nursing curriculum. Their rationale was to introduce nursing students to the concepts and processes associated with electronic documentation in a simulation lab before their clinical placements.
In this simulation lab, students are able to log into QHC's secure and confidential test database to learn about electronic documentation. The addition of eDoc to the human simulation lab has facilitated Nursing and Practical Nursing students to provide care in a more realistic context. Documenting the care they provide for mannequins enables students to provide complete care and to practice the application of standards for documentation and informatics skills. Practicing eDoc in the simulation lab also provides the students with an introduction to a key aspect of the hospital environment. This familiarity increases the student's confidence and competence and enables them to participate safely and effectively in clinical placements.
As a result of this mutual effort, Loyalist College no longer requires QHC to provide electronic documentation education to students prior to their placements and QHC has significantly reduced the training demands on the information services department.
This collaboration has become a win-win situation for all involved!
Quinte Healthcare currently has 6 eChampions.
Carol Cooke is a Nurse Peer Leader from South East LHIN (LHIN 10).