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While in nursing school, I worked for Private Healthcare Insurance in Irvine, CA. This was my first experience using computers daily for work. Unfortunately, I did not have personal computer access during school, and I remember many hours behind a typewriter developing care plans. That meant no copy and paste, spellcheck, or formatting. -
Finally, we decided to take the plunge and purchase a home computer at Gateway. Of course, at this time, there was only dial-up internet available. I remember spending many hours learning all the ins and outs. It became more of a gaming device than anything else. -
I began working at Acordia Insurance as a pre-authorization nurse. Now I was using two monitors, downloading files, performing Google searches for medical information, and setting up referrals for patients. Using computers in my workplace has evolved immensely, and all the available tools have made helping patients much easier. -
Christmas 2010, the only thing on my son's Christmas list was an iPad. He wasn't interested in gaming systems, toys, or sports. He knew what he wanted, and that was the new iPad. He certainly knew much more about it than I did. Now with wi-fi available, he would research anything that came to mind. -
Was there anything better than a Pink Razor Flip Phone? No!! This was my first experience with a cell phone, and I thought it was the most fantastic invention in the world. This meant more freedom for me when my son was in school. He is a Type One Diabetic, and I was always made sure I was close to a phone in case the school personnel needed me. There wasn't a school nurse available every day. Our phones now resemble mini-computers. -
I decided to go back to school to complete my Bachelor's in Nursing and wanted the program to be online. This, of course, meant I needed a laptop. What an amazing difference a wireless laptop made for nursing school. I sometimes wonder how I made it through my Associate's Program without it. -
As a school nurse, everything is done on my laptop. There is an Electronic Health Record (EHR) that is used for all medical documentation. All demographic and school history for a student is easily accessible on a state network. There is also a state website to find all students' immunization records. We even use a small computer, a Spot Vision Screener, for our vision screenings.