Dq

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In healthcare, the advances in technology are vast and provide the foundation for the future of healthcare information delivery systems. The modernization of healthcare has changed the evolution of documentation and education to be available whenever it is needed. Technology improves access to evidence-based practice; it also supports access to the information within the clinical setting, which improves care and the planning of care. Technology helps facilitate communication within the healthcare team; it also helps maintain standardization of practice pattern. It accelerates surveillance for error detection and may also assist in preventing errors.   

The electronic medical record (EMR) can be a beneficial tool in implementing new processes like adopting formal wound care documentation. In this capacity quality, process improvement tools can also be implemented to track pressure injuries in real-time and identify factors that contributed to it more efficiently. When a wound is documented, it can alert the wound care team, and then they can assess it and assist with documentation while developing a course of care action. This can also be helpful when patients are admitted to alerting the RN to chart skin assessments within 24 hours using the four eyes wound care documentation tool. The Braden scale is also a tool that nurses chart daily, and if their Braden score increases, it notifies the wound care team to assist in a plan to prevent pressure injuries before they happen. I plan to use this tool after implementation to track injuries and evaluate areas we need improvement on when it comes to preventing pressure injuries. The most significant barrier I foresee is the lack of documentation by staff or missing opportunities for improvement while the change is in process. Another barrier is that it can take time to build these processes into our charting system; we use Cerner, which has pre-set charting for wounds, which would have to be altered by our IT staff.