Has Anyone Had To Learn A Computer System At Work?

[Kitties]

We are going to all computer charting at work. Except medication sheets which will be added at a later date. We had terrible training today. No trainer in the room. She's on the phone with her computer on the projector and we all had our own computers. As important as this is, the corporation can't even get a live trainer in the room?!

I'm terrified! How am I going to learn this %#*&? Anyone else ever go computer at work? How did you get through it?

 

[KLS52]

We went over to a whole new financial system at work. Being in the Fiscal office and responsible for the budget and all purchasing, invoicing, grant reporting, etc. we had to go to several trainings to learn it.

We did have a live person there to train us. Plus, several of top management learned it first and became familiar with the system so they were helpful, too.

What usually works for me when learning something new, is to take detailed notes, writing down step by step instructions, a "cheat sheet" if you will. We were also given a printed booklet with instructions. Sometimes all it took was to elaborate on a few of those points.

It was a difficult transition for all involved. And issues still come up that need addressing. I can tell you not to be nervous and that you will most likely do fine, but I'm sure you will be nervous anyway. It's a normal reaction to something like this. Good luck!!
(((hug)))

 

[Amy SF]

I've never heard of a situation where you learned a new computer system without a live trainer being present. That's just ridiculous. I've had live people helping me whenever I had to learn a new system or program. I agree with Karen. Take lots of notes and see if they've got a booklet or anything printed they can give you.

 

[ledboots]

We are going to all computer charting at work. Except medication sheets which will be added at a later date. We had terrible training today. No trainer in the room. She's on the phone with her computer on the projector and we all had our own computers. As important as this is, the corporation can't even get a live trainer in the room?!

I'm terrified! How am I going to learn this %#*&? Anyone else ever go computer at work? How did you get through it?

We had to transition to computer charting in a large hospital a few years ago. It was very stressful.

The classes were bs; they had a lecturer and we had a huge class of people. It was very confusing. The good part was that trainers went on to the floor the first weeks of the transition, so we could ask them. Some of our nurses became "super users" with extra training so that we could answer questions on the fly during the shift.

Once everyone was trained and comfortable with computer charting, it was discovered that it now takes 3x longer than it did with paper charts. They had to cut our patient load by 20% because we spend the day with the computer instead of with the patient. The same thing is charted into three or four different places in the chart, and just giving a simple p.o. med is so time- consuming.

One of the reasons I left that job was the horrible computer system. I learned it fine and became a super user, and the more I used it, the worse it got. Hope your experience is better.

 

[Kitties]

Oh wow! Thanks for your replies. Taking longer to chart. That was my guess. Because you just can't write a note, the vital signs have to go someplace else. Putting a new order in was pretty complicated. A bunch of drop downs and we have to code in the diagnosis. The abbreviations such as GERD COPD CHF etc won't work. Got to find the whole words.

I'm predicting overtime for all involved. Mistakes and omissions. Our administration is all about the $$$$$. So I'm not expecting support. We were given the one training 8 hour session. And were told the computers would be in the conference room for the next two weeks for us to practice on. Translation: Come in on your own time and practice.

The trainer went so fast. It's like someone giving you complicated directions who is familiar with the area. You get the first few turns. Then you are totally lost.

 

[Amy SF]

I can certainly see the upside to computer charting vs. hand written charts. No sloppy handwriting. Everything is much more clear. Fewer abbreviations. Fewer mistakes made because of the lack of sloppy handwriting and abbreviations. But I guess there's a steep learning curve and everything.

Hope things get better for you!