I work as a nurse in a mental health unit. Every month we are getting more and more paperwork to do. It is getting to the point where we haven't got time for the patients. I also think that most of the time it gets filed away and nobody looks at it
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Nurses and paperwork
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Maisie1
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Whatever happened to Ward Clerks ?
It is the culture of the NHS the need to collect information in detail & yes 90% of the time it is never looked at again. The only time is things go wrong, which really is a tragedy.
The healthcare industry is producing paper information on a screen, the same information that was collected 100 years ago.
IT is at a stage where information could be recorded automatically when you are in contact with the patient, talking to them, when they talk to you, when medical devices are used. But sadly technology is lacking in the healthcare industry when compared to other business.
A radical rethink is needed in the way both patient & health professionals record information & the type of data collected, removing the repeated data that always gets asked. This should flow automatically from 1 health professional to another.
Then when minor things start to go wrong, flags to warn you to stop a tragedy happening.
Yes it is complex, not straight forward, but until design which puts the patient truly in the centre of all of their health data only then should you see a reduction in the paperwork you need to do.
The same thing happened in education, from the early years of this century. It's getting worse each year. The amount of plans, evaluations, records generated is beyond belief. It's all linked to government targets, I think. And league tables, OFSTEd, etc......all in the name of accountability. What can't we all just be trusted to get on with our jobs?
Hello
So I have heard, keep clam and good luck
BOB
Marz we still have ward clerks but they have more paperwork than us
Yes, a similar situation occurs in social work. I think the litigation mentality is largely responsible as every organisation seems intent on protecting their backs as the number one priority. Whilst I think records can be important and are necessary, the work with clients and patients must come first otherwise it is a case of the cart leading the horse which is crazy.
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