Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1111624
Deborah McCoy RN, M.S., FACHE Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Methodist Hospital of Southern California Nurses can take photographs of a patient during assessment and upload them to the com- puter in real time. It's so much better than the days when nurses had to rely on written notes to describe a patient's condition. Robyn M. Nelson RN, Ph.D., MSN Dean, College of Nursing West Coast University Simulation, particularly high- fidelity simulation. When I practiced injections and IVs, it was on a classmate. Now, we have synthetic arms that bleed and manikins that cry. Often, nursing students today are not permitted to give medications or chart. This means the critical thinking nurs- ing students need must come from simulation. Fortunately, a three-year multi-site study has concluded that simulation is just as effective as direct care. The next big wave will be incorporating augmented real- ity, virtual reality and gaming into how we teach. Jinhee Nguyen RN, MSN Vice President and Patient Care Executive Adventist Health Glendale I can't imagine us working without electronic medical records. We had an unexpect- ed downtime during our recent system upgrade, so we had to use downtime forms and temporarily go back to hand- written documentation. There were so many complaints from care providers! Bar coding of medication is another blessing that's instru- mental in ensuring safe patient medication administration. Lauren Spilsbury RN, MSN Vice President, Patient Care Services Redlands Community Hospital When I speak to new hires, I usually talk about how when I was a novice nurse, I was taught to "massage bony prominences to prevent decubitus ulcers." This usually gets a good laugh from the new staff, but I use this exam- ple to show how practice changes. Nurses need to be ready to learn new evidence- based practice. A change I am excited to see is the use of ultrasound. When I began nursing, ultra- sound was the sole purview of radiologists. Now, nurses can use ultrasound at the bedside just as they would a stethoscope. Patricia Stone RN, MSN Vice President and Patient Care Executive Adventist Health White Memorial When I started my nursing career, it was not the norm to have gloves so readily avail- able. I remember thinking about whether putting on gloves would insult the patient. Many nurses of my genera- tion can recall when we said that it was not possible to start an IV with gloves on. When gloves became an expected part of nursing care, some nurs- es would put a hole in the finger of a glove so they could feel the vein when starting an IV. Also, when we started an IV back then, we hooked the patient up to the fluid and counted drops to deliver a certain amount of medication within the ordered time- frame. Nowadays, all IVs are run on smart pumps with built-in medication libraries to assist in safe administration. Annette Sy RN, DNP, NE-BC Chief Nursing Officer Keck Medical Center of USC I started my nursing career in the early '80s. We did not have electronic health records. There were no computers — nurses used paper and large flow sheets. I remember using glass IV bottles instead of bags and glass containers connect- ed to chest tubes. We didn't even have the safety needles we have today. CNO Roundtable Q & A HOW FAR WE'VE COME What's something nurses take for granted today that would have astounded you at the beginning of your nursing career? 22 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com April 29–June 10, 2019 Lauren Spilsbury