Memory Care | Medford, Oregon

Project Abstract:

Upon learning about this grant our organization met with the nursing team and reviewed our clinical process and potential areas of improvement. As a team we identified the leading stressors affecting our nurses. The identified stressor within our organization that has the greatest impact on the nursing team is our current electronic medical record system including our current pharmacy. Our current POS system is called Quickmar, and our current pharmacy is PharMerica.

Quickmar, the form that we currently utilize lacks many aspects that are needed to successfully organize and track information. To keep up with current best practices for the coordination of care internally and between organizations a POS system is necessary. Our current system lacks many of the aspects most needed by the nursing staff effectively and efficiently to organize and track data. Many of our documents continue to be done on paper. This includes skin tracking, meal logs, bowel logs, care plans and many more. This makes it very difficult and time-consuming for the nursing team to receive information needed to provide the top level of care our facility strives to give. The nursing team must spend limited time sifting through paperwork to find information vital to their role. This time spent searching for information that with a different system would be readily available limits the nurses’ time at the bedside and is a source of stress for the nurses. With a more updated POS system this information is available within the electronic record and easily accessible to nurses even when they are not in the facility. PharMerica has also been another stressor on the nursing team. The current processes PharMerica has in place have led to med errors and duplication of work. In our recent state survey at Kinsington Redwood Park a pharmacy error led to citations and a less than desirable outcome for the community.

The nursing staff had begun discussion on how to have a more integrated and updated system as these issues were being identified. After the failed state survey, it became clear that a new system was necessary to manage our residents’ records more accurately and effectively. The state survey team mentioned multiple times that an upgraded POS system such as Point Click Care would prevent many of the issues that we were cited for. We began researching POS systems and decided that PCC would best meet the needs of our communities. PCC would allow us to streamline our processes allowing our nursing team to gather and analyze data efficiently and effectively. This would ensure our residents are receiving the best care possible and allow the nursing team to have more time at the beside. During the research for a new POS, it was made known to us that a new pharmacy called Consonus integrates very well with PCC. As an organization we decided to move forward with a systematic change to PCC and Consonus.