Jane K. Dickinson, RN, PhD, CDCES

Recently I read this article about electronic health records (EHR). In case you don’t have time to read it, the article discusses the problems and risks associated with EHRs. There have been other articles in the past that have said health care providers don’t like EHRs, that they aren’t saving time like they were supposed to, etc.

Personally, I have been through two different hospital EHR conversions and one transition to a new EHR. I have never complained or resisted the change (even though the process is always difficult). This last time, though, has been extremely frustrating. I have not found it “intuitive” or “user friendly.” It feels more like layers upon layers of options and finding the right one – to get to where I want to go – is challenging.

That is my professional experience. As a patient, recently, I’ve had providers ask me about medications I haven’t taken in years. I’ve received printouts from the EHR that say we talked about things we never talked about.

Reading this article not only frustrated me (because it reminded me of my own experience), it scared me. These problems with EHRs could happen to me or my family – wrong medications could be ordered, labs could disappear or never get sent out.

I don’t know what can be done about this, and I hope someone does. Our health is a very important resource and not something to be messed around with.

Recently I wrote about diabetes as a daily experiment. Soon after I realized it’s also like a quality improvement project. In QI there are lots of words and abbreviations. In QI they use words like adopt, adapt, and abandon.

Every day, while managing diabetes, we make decisions about what new practices, procedures or devices to adopt. We also constantly adapt what we’re doing to make things work better or differently. Finally, we need to be able to figure out when to abandon something that’s not working and move on.

All of this works most effectively with a clear mind and no judgment. Use the data in front of us, make a decision, and move forward. Just like everything else in life.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who are also taking care of someone with diabetes. That could mean managing their own diabetes every day, while being a mom, or it could mean taking care of their child(ren) with diabetes. Either way, it’s a delicate balancing act and a lot of hard work.

I’m grateful to the moms who teach their kids with diabetes how to become independent, not only in life, but in diabetes management. Thank you for dealing with an extra dose of fear and anxiety when you say good-bye for a sleepover, a sporting event, an unaccompanied trip, college, and life as an adult. Thanks for accepting your child for who they are, for teaching them how to make decisions, for supporting them at all times (regardless of their glucose numbers), for loving them with diabetes.

Being a “diabetes mom,” no matter what that looks like, adds an extra layer of worry and challenge. And even on Mother’s Day there’s no relaxing or taking a break. So consider this some extra mother’s day love. Now go get some hugs from those kids!!