When Gorge Road Hospital (GRH) Long-Term Care went live with both electronic clinical documentation (ClinDoc) and computerized provider order entry (CPOE) simultaneously, they used a peer mentorship model that site leaders say was key to their success. During the go-live period that started April 12 and lasted through May 3, experienced peer mentors from The Summit at Quadra Village “paid it forward” by offering their assistance onsite at GRH.
“The team really came together,” says Manager Kim Rowat of the work that unit staff undertook in conjunction with peer mentors from The Summit.
“We’d like to thank the staff from The Summit for coming over here and helping everybody”.
Rowat gave particular recognition to one of the peer mentors, Naomi Sikora, an LPN from The Summit who provided support and shared her experience with staff at Gorge Road Long-Term Care. “Naomi has done a really good job pumping up the team and getting everybody excited about IHealth.
Keyo Tremblay, CNL at GRH Long-Term Care credited the Clinical Informatics team as well for their training and support during the go-live.
“Working with the Clinical Informatics team was fantastic,” says Tremblay. “They’re such a great, helpful group of people, and having the teamwork of [clinical staff from] the Summit here was extremely helpful. There’s a lot of camaraderie, and excited people with positive attitudes. I think that’s what made it go well.”
Another factor in the smooth activation was the steady stream of communication at the unit level, in huddles and handovers. Each gathering had some time set aside to answer questions and address concerns about go-live, and issues arising were brought back to the IHealth project team for resolution.
As more long-term care locations fully activate on the electronic health record, the “pay it forward, pay it back” model of support will continue to be used.
