Friday, August 26, 2005

The wonderful world of dictation

My new favorate activity? ...dictating discharge summaries.

Nurse Practitioner F. took us down to the dictating room on the second floor and tought us how to use the system. There's a small study-like room with 3 cubicles, each with a telephone. Over the phone, we dictate a summary of the patients latest stay into an answering machine, which is later transcribed and entered into the chart. The wonderful thing about it for me is that I can spend 30 minutes with the phone and the chart and review all the important information we learned about a patient. Information that I likely missed (or forgot) in the week or so that the patient was in the hospital.

Like all new toys, I know that my enthusiasm for the activity will probably fade; I've never met a doctor who sounds excited about his dictations. But for now I'm going to let my mind wrap itself around the wonderful world of dictating. What's more, Nurse F has a whole shelf of patients she hasn't gotten around to dictating. If I go through them all and catch her up, I think it just might be helpful when it comes time to asking for letters of recommendation... ;)

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