PDA training program for bedside patient information management

PDA Implementation

The Program Idea

Personal Data Assistants (PDA's) are hand held devices that act in a similar manner to personal computers. They provide the user with the capability of entering and tracking information in an efficient and effective manner. This is especially true in the medical industry where PDA use in the field is becoming quite commonplace. This paper presents a program idea that allows for the implementation of a training program for a local medical entity seeking to use PDA's to track bedside medical treatments, illnesses, diseases and symptoms.

A recent study determined that "patient care has become more complicated, risk prone, automated and costly" and that "efficiencies at the bedside are needed to continue to provide safe and successful treatments within this environment" (Hudson, Buell. 2011, p. 400). The study determined that one quite effective manner for doing so was through the use of PDA's to enter and track patient information. This program seeks to use the effectiveness of PDAs by allowing the medical professionals at a local community clinic to use the PDAs at the bedside of all new and current patients. Patient information will be sought and entered into hand-held PDAs and then electronically transmitted to the clinic's medical electronic system.

Stakeholders

The stakeholders for this project include; the clinic's medical personnel and staff, the patients, and the patient's families and loved ones. One unique aspect to this particular study is that the various stakeholders will all benefit from the use of PDAs.

The medical professionals that work at the clinic will benefit with more and faster access to patient information that will facilitate treatment decisions in an improved and quicker fashion. The patients (of course) will benefit as well, and the families and loved ones will feel more comfort and confidence in the clinic's medical professionals. One recent study determined that "the aging trend and the proliferation of ICAT, impose considerable demands on modern societies and affect private and work lives, training-on-the-job programs, educational and school programs, software and hardware concerns up to design of technical devices" (Arning, Ziefle, 2009, p. 252). PDA's allow for easy use and all the professional personnel at the clinic should benefit in an appropriate manner with the introduction of the PDA training and devices.

Instructional Plans

The instructional plans include an initial meeting to introduce the concept of readily accessible electronic information technology and the introduction of the PDA hand-held devices. After the initial meeting, the next step will be to train the various staff in the daily uses of the PDA and how to transmit the information to the clinic's medical system contained in the mainframe.

This will be accomplished through instructional courses that focus on small groups of workers. The workers will be prioritized with the personnel most likely to use the PDA's as the first ones to be trained. Once the bedside personnel are trained, other personnel will also be trained in the use of the PDAs until finally all the staff at the clinic are well-versed in PDA usage.