N6004 Module 6

What is one new thing you learned in this module, or something that you knew but had forgotten?
I learned many useful things in this course, but the one thing that stands out in my mind was the information we learned about Clinical Decision-Support Systems (CDSS). This is definitely something that I can envision using as a nurse practitioner. In fact, I found a CDSS that relates to mental health and is based on the Texas Medication Algorithm Project!
I would like to say thank you to Allen and Seraphine for a great class and for quick email responses when I had questions. I still wish I had taken this course during my first semester (it would have saved me hours of time and days of headaches!) I wish you the best…have a great summer!

Module 5 blog

Before I started this module, I had never heard of Clinical Decision Support Systems. In the birth center I work in, we don't use these types of programs. I do think it is unfortunate, however...just because our patients tend to be young and healthy doesn't mean that we don't get patients who have acute and chronic illnesses. I think a CDSS would be a wonderful nursing support for times that we have patients we don't 'typically' care for.

When we turn to our dated nursing manuals, we find that they are of little help to us. We end up spending time doing internet searches for information, hoping that we are using sources that are current and reliable.

The way I have increased my nursing knowledge is to keep up with reading my professional journals, attending 1-2 seminars per year, and earning 30+ hours of CEU's per year, even though my state does not require that much. I really believe in the value of evidence-based medicine and I try to use that to my advantage with my patients. I found the Tversky & Kahneman article interesting...but I know using my intuition and following my 'gut' over the years has been very important for my patients' health and safety. I agree, however, that there is a need to balance intuition with evidence-based practice.

Because of this module, I have been looking into psychiatric/mental health CDSS's and have started to compare them so that when I graduate I have one or more of these wonderful tools at my fingertips for every patient encounter. I am also excited about using a PDA, which can be a wonderful tool as well.