Reply With QuoteMeditech has been around for a long time. We were using it in NE in 1995. I think it requires a lot of double charting. I also used it in Dallas last year. It didn't seem to be much easier. In Dallas we had one partial day of computer orientation.
Meditech..is anyone here familiar with it?
I noticed that alot of nurses complain about the lack of orientation when going into hospitals using Meditech. Some hospitals won't even hire nurses who haven't already used this system. I have done paper and computer charting, what is so difficult about Meditech? Surely it isn't much different from other computer charting. I even contacted the company-and they don't do seminars or teaching. It is all the responsibility of each facility.
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Meditech has been around for a long time. We were using it in NE in 1995. I think it requires a lot of double charting. I also used it in Dallas last year. It didn't seem to be much easier. In Dallas we had one partial day of computer orientation.
Started using Meditech in 95 also- and it's still used in the HCA (and other) facilities I've worked at in Tennessee. Each facility has its own little quirky ways of how they want certain things done, and it's not really difficult- just cumbersome because it's such an old system. I think the first keyboards were actually made of stone!! The facility where I am now even made us do 2 days of meditech training in orientation. It's mostly used for ordering, but can be used for charting and care plans and such, depending on the facility.
Thanks for the responses. The systems I have used must be alot more recent and more user friendly. I have noticed that as cgrunrun said, the HCA hospitals use it. It is kinda funny sometimes, but nurses who have used only the newer systems panic a little if the system is older or less "people friendly". It is even worse sometimes for nurses who have never paper charted except in school. Switching gears can be tough!
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By the way, I decided paper charting and computer charting both have pros and cons. I kinda like certain things about both...do you guys have an opinion on this?
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As an L+D nurse, I think I like computer charting best, provided the facility utilizes it well. I have worked in places where you do some paper and some computer, and that's a real headache. I'd rather do paper than both. But being flexible is just a part of travelling. Computer or paper is just not one of those things I choose to worry about too much. When in Rome...
Yeah, I agree. I don't complain about either one, myself....i have worked enough years to know It's a bad idea to compare one facility to another when "in house". That's why it is kinda nice to get other nurse opinions via this forum. Thanks.
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I have used Meditec at 3 facilities for order entry and bedside charting. One hospital in Oregon had newer screens that you could actually use your mouse on. Meditec is an old doss type program, F1 F9, key stroke type of program. It takes some time to learn it. For bedside charting at one facility they incorporated an acuity system into your assessment so you were stopped dead in your tracks if you tried to skip through parts of your assessment. Also when charting to a system, neruo or renal etc there was only a short line to elaborate when the drop down menu choices were not what you wanted to say. At the end of it all you could type in nurses notes but by the timeyou get there it is easy to forget what the heck you were wanting to say. Good luck.
I have used Meditech quite extensively. The ease of use is really linked to how old the meditech system is. I worked as a unit secretary/cna and an RN at Goshen General Hospital, a magnet status hospital in Goshen, Indiana. The system is very user friendly. Everything that you need to chart is set up as a multiple choice you go through the screens on your main assessment and you point and click. The key is the setup. I started travel nursing and the hospital that I am currently at has meditech....don't let that fool you. The meditech system is more archaic than Goshen's even when we first started out. Meditech doss system is alot of look ups. Assessment in advanced meditech take about 2
minutes when you get the hang of it. Assessments in doss meditech are tedious. I really hate it. Another good thing about the more advanced systems is that things that you need to do....you can time them. When you need to do them they appear pink....meds too. They have a computer Mar and all the meds you need to give at a certain time will appear pink. When doctors come in and leave computerize orders they pop up on your computerize screen in a certain area so you know to click and see what they want. It's very nice. I would encourage you to ask, when you are interviewing, if the meditech system is updated or a doss program. It really does make a very big difference. Good luck.
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