The use of electronic health records in nursing is extremely important. I have never known there to be a time without electronic records, even from a young age. I have almost always had access to my records from home. I think that especially in nursing, it can be extremely helpful. You have all of the information that you could ever need right in front of you. As a nurse, you are constantly changing patients with every shift and having the information easily accessible is important to gain a good understanding of the patient and how they should be taken care of. The electronic health records have many benefits for the nurses.
After this presentation, I now have a better understanding of HIE and why they are an important part of the electronic health records today. Sometimes when people go to the hospital or even to a doctor’s appointment, they may have an extensive past medical history or medication list. This can be difficult to remember especially for older adults. Having access to this information no matter what location the patient is at makes the doctors, nurses, or whoever may need access to the patient information easier.
I will apply what I have learned in this presentation in many aspects of my future as a nurse. I now understand how important it is to have access to this information. I also learned that it is okay to opt out of this, as a patient. I understand how daunting it can be to a patient that all of their medical information is on a website and pretty much any healthcare professional is able to access it. I like how the patient has control over this and they can change the setting to what they would like so that they are more comfortable with this. I also will take into account that I should only be looking at what information is necessary for me, the nurse, to take care of the patient. There is no need for me to go through the whole electronic health record if it is not needed. I think that it is great that more people are using electronic health records for their patient care. It makes the experience easier for both the patient and their healthcare team.
