Residents Seeing Patients
8 am: Residents are Making Rounds
It's 8 am. A team of doctors has just arrived on A6-South at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. There are three pediatric residents and three medical students in the group, working under the supervision of their team leader, Michael Vossmeyer, MD, an experienced pediatrician and teacher.
They've come to make rounds. They will go room to room, checking on their young patients, making decisions together, learning from their teacher and each other.
As they begin, their first step is to get the portable computer they'll take with them on their rounds. This wireless computer terminal on wheels has become a new, indispensable tool for physicians and nurses at Cincinnati Children's.
This morning, Sarah Corathers, MD, a second-year resident, is in charge of the computer while the team rounds. She will take it into every room they visit. If the team wants to check the patient's latest lab test results or see the most recent radiology image, she'll find them online. Having the computer at the bedside gives her access to up-to-the-minute information that she can also show to the parents and the patient.
If the child needs an X-ray, she'll order it online, and if the study needs to be done immediately, the computer will page the radiology technologist automatically.
If the patient needs medication, Dr. Corathers will write the order online, right there at the bedside. Information she'll need to prescribe medicine safely will be at her fingertips, including the child's age, weight and known allergies, as well as useful information about the drug she's ordering. The computerized order entry system will help her prescribe the right drug at the right dose — and will send her order directly to the pharmacy as soon as she writes it.
