I had a thought recently.  Rare and frightening, I know.  It occured while reading a nurse blog post complaining about JCAHO and the accompanying paperwork.  Although I have plenty of paperwork to do between my daily hospital admits and home health admits, it seems as though ERNursey has just a few more.  And for a minute, I was glad.  But then, a terrible dread came over me.  I was panicked, tachycardic, SOB, and diaphoretic. 

Currently both of my positions still utilize the original (and IMHO, the simplest) form of documentation, paper.  But eventually it will change to electronic.  I do not look forward to this, as I am not one who typically welcomes change easily.  Especially since Hospital Chaos has already tried to make this change, even though all the bugs weren’t worked out of the program, even though the nurses expressed how much double and triple documenting they would be doing without the suits even pretending like they cared, thereby further decreasing our patient care time, even though we didn’t even have enough freaking computers for everyone to chart on, even though this was a pilot e-doc program and we were the guinnea pigs.  Luckily someone grew some brain axons and decided to postpone the project for now…..but I digress.

I became so anxious because I realized that even though we have way too much paperwork now, the amount of new flowsheets, more detailed care plans, and various other CYA procedure sheets that could be flung upon us once we begin ‘e-doc-ing’ would be paralyzing. 

It doesn’t take too much imagination to see a time when you litearlly spend more time charting than you do provided the patient care you’ve charted.  I’ve had days where it was atleast a close tie.  Have Annie Ashen pull a PEA, and you’ll easily spend 1/2 the shift charting.  Bobbie BM ensures the laundry people have excellent job security…again, and you’ll be eating lunch while describing the qualities of his last hershey squirt.  Have Bobbie BM and Annie Ashen in the same assignment…..you’d better put on a pot of keep go Joe, take the chart to the stairwell, and start raking in the time and a half.  You are most certainly gonna chart the care more than you provided the care !