LIWANAG, Genecarlo Ma’am Vidallo, RN

BSN45

Paper-based Medical Chart Receives Digital Makeover

Nurses and other caregivers in EDs and child trauma units may be familiar with the
Broselow Pediatric Emergency Tape, a paper-based medical chart that is undergoing
an electronic update.

In its traditional form, the Broselow Tape is a long, durable tape measure used on a
child during a medical emergency. It features a color-coded format that allows
caregivers to see specific instructions, such as the amount of medicines to dispense or
the level of shock voltage to give from a defibrillator, based on the height and weight of
the child.

Now, all personnel will be able to view the information on a large LCD monitor within the
emergency room. The innovation is a result of a collaborative effort between the Virginia
Tech College of Engineering, the Carilion Clinic Children’s Hospital in Roanoke and
James Broselow, MD, the physician who created the original method in the mid-1980s.

New information on display will include medicines administered to the patient, including
the time of administration and the next scheduled dose. If a patient is suffering from
burns, caregivers will be able to view automated calculations of the affected surface and
fluid resuscitation. They will be able to move from one screen to another by clicking a
mouse or remote control.

Emergency medical personnel still will rely on the laminated tape to determine the
child’s care-need level, then use the digital version to display the information.

Medical personnel provided input for many of the new features, such as the ability to
use barcode scanning to track the exact types and amounts of medicine administered to
patients.

The new technology represents the digital update of a chart for children ages 12 and
younger who weigh approximately 80 pounds or less. Broselow and his technology
company continue to work on digital formats for EDs of all types, including iPhone
applications.
Source:

http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101208/ALL01/112130003/-
1/frontpage&template=printart

Reaction:

Documentation is one of the key features of the nursing process. It records the
doctor’s order, medications, and interventions done to the client and so on. This process
is very crucial to the health care team in delivering a quality health service. In this new
update, it is not just an ordinary chart which we can input everything we did to the client.
It has added features, first it’s electronic, second, it can easily calculate the medication
needs of the client and it can even compute how much fluids are needed to a specific
body part of a wounded client. This new technology is more appropriate for pediatric
use since the computations in dosage are much more complicated than that of the
adult. This will enable a safe administration and accuracy of the dose. It would be easier
and efficient to the nurse in charge in terms of utilizing the said material. The health
care delivery system is getting more efficient than it was two decades ago.