Computers in the Workplace

The industry I will be discussing is the healthcare industry. In recent years, the healthcare industry has been working towards dropping paper charts altogether and pivoting towards electronic charts. This has been a significant talking point amongst nurses and doctors, especially those working in the industry for 20-plus years.

            The healthcare industry becoming more reliant on technology makes charting, among other tasks, more manageable. I train clinical hospital staff on how to use the new EMR (electronic medical record) system rolling out to hospitals. Most staff is open to change and sees the benefits of a universal design and workflows throughout the hospital system. A couple of the more veteran staff will push back as they feel they are trying to be squeezed out. They see the new staff who just graduated and have grown up on computers and iPads and feel their time is running out. This is not the case, as it does not replace how to care for a patient.           

            Hospitals switch to a new EMR for convenience. The new EMR has the technology to make a clinician’s job easier. Charting, vitals, medication administration through a pump, appointments, and insurance are all tasks technology has made more accessible in the healthcare industry. It is crucial for the staff to be computer literate so they can navigate the EMR system and correctly perform their job functions. I’ve taught classes where there were staff that didn’t know how to copy and paste. This is a routine function for most computer users today, as it allows text or data to be entered quickly multiple times rather than typed out every single time.

Technology in the healthcare industry can also be detrimental if in the wrong hands. There could be incorrect charting or billing to a patient. If a nurse doesn’t log out of their workstation, it could become an issue of confidential information. Every year jobs become more reliant on technology.   Every business, big or small, seems to rely on an iPad or tablet, at minimum, for many job functions.

            By not being computer literate, that individual is not getting the most out of what is being provided for them. It would be like having a state-of-the-art laptop and only using it to play solitaire.