Posted on: July 17, 2024
| CONGRATS, RJH! Check out so many great photos of staff working together to make Go-Live at RJH a success. See the RJH Go Live Flickr album. |
Congratulations to staff and medical staff at Royal Jubilee Hospital on a successful IHealth Go-Live! The site went live on June 8 with computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and other advanced tools in the electronic health record (EHR) with the support of colleagues from across the region.
RJH site leaders Candice Keddie and Dr. Brian Mc Ardle praised staff and medical staff for their engagement, their professionalism, and their commitment to working as a team to make this significant and impactful improvement to patient care.
“Every part of the organization has been touched by this change and contributed to how well it's gone," the leaders shared in a message sent out to RJH staff last week. “Seeing people show up and be so supportive of each other with such positivity for this change inspires a lot of confidence in how we can grow and lead as an organization in the future."
Colleagues from sites across Island Health, representing many different roles, came to support RJH staff during the active Go-Live support period. Experienced support came from staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital – the first fully activated IHealth site – and from Victoria General Hospital (VGH), where staff will go live with CPOE in mid-September, as well as other sites throughout the region.
Bonnie Hannam, a CNE at VGH, put her hand up to work in the RJH emergency department during the first few weeks of Go-Live. She said her motivation to help out at RJH was to ease the load on the clinical side by taking on some beside care, while nurses who had been freshly trained on CPOE got used to the new system.
“I was thinking at least I can be hands-on with the patient, and they can help learn the system and then slowly I can also see how the system is working over there," Hannam said.
Support for providers included not only colleagues from across Island Health, but also other regions in B.C.
Dr. Christina Botros, who works at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, previously supported EHR activations at Vancouver General and St. Paul's Hospitals.
“The electronic system is so much better for staff, physicians and patients," she said.
With five weeks now behind them, RJH staff calls for support have dropped in number, while peer-to-peer support has increased -- both signs that staff are adapting to the new CPOE functions and workflows. Nonetheless, site leaders remind us that, "Even weeks after Go-Live, it's still someone's first day using the new system. Making the full transition to this new way of working takes time. Be patient with your peers and patient with yourself."
RJH staff and medical staff looking for ongoing clinical support with the EHR can contact the Clinical Service Desk. For more details on the RJH CPOE transition to operations, read the full memo.
Link to the RJH Go-Live News issues.