I think thus far, I have worked on a patient experience tool that we were asked to create. It seeks to find out the patient perspectives when they receive care at UCSF. This tool is called the Digital Rounding Utility, lovingly called "DRU" for short. Its first iteration was released just 6 weeks after it was requested it be created. Although it is an iterative process, it is an important tool for UCSF to help understand how the patients are viewing us before they leave our doors and provides opportunities for us to do service recovery before the patient leaves. We will be launching an update soon that will help nurse leaders be more streamlined in their processes to assist patients with identified needs in their rooms. The tool will continue to grow and change with the needs and develop further. Additionally, our DRU development team was invited to give a national webinar in July to showcase the tool and its capabilities.
When I was a kid, I used to take apart computers and rebuild them, usually for gaming! I enjoyed upgrading, moving, building motherboards and computers to suit my needs. However, prior to nursing, the bulk of the technology side of my experiences arose from when I was in my early university years, when personal computers were really emerging into the mainstream. As a result, I became quite adept at problem solving within various applications and became more familiar with multiple operating systems. My initial career (in Earth Sciences) which was very tech heavy, I learned quickly how to manipulate data, utilize multiple software applications, create databases, produce and format large documents with multiple volumes, along with other graphs, charts, tables, algorithms, etc. I decided to go back to school to become a nurse because I wanted to become a midwife. Things do not always work out the way we plan! My clinical background initiated in obstetrics as a labor & delivery nurse on a very busy high risk unit. I initially hid my technology experience, to concentrate on nursing. But my strong desire to help others came through when fellow nurses and other clinicians struggled with computer malfunctions, EHR documentation, data representation and other aspects of technology that presented challenges, for which I was able to assist. As a result, all of this has helped me to grow to who I am in this role as a CNI at UCSF within Nursing Informatics at UCSF. It gave me the foundations I have today to continue to grow.
My favorite aspect of my role as a CNI is the focus on the goal of helping to provide nurses a means to do their jobs more efficiently, if possible. Meeting with nurses, answering their questions, and sharing cool functionality to help them work smarter, not harder, is one of the parts that "fills my bucket" with contentment. I also enjoy the wide variety of people and roles we get to interact with across many parts of UCSF.
In my prior career, I was a geologist, and I have a Master's degree in Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. My focus was on high pressure - high temperature minerals created deep in the earth's crust-mantle border. I also loved what you could make from cool minerals as well, like fun jewelry!
I enjoy adventures, love every aspect of traveling, and exploring. In those adventures, I love looking for cool rocks and minerals, checking out cool geologic features across the earth, as much as possible. I also enjoy swimming, playing mini golf, bowling, rock climbing, playing at the beach, playing games (mostly board games now!), and reading. I also love going to see comedians live, as well as concerts of my favorite bands.
I am actively learning and expanding my French right now, but I wish I could acquire languages instantly. I love learning about cultures and people, and language is a great way to find commonality and learn. I have a goal to learn French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian and more! Learning languages makes travelling and exploring more fun!