TRIP TO JUNEAU

I flew out of Barrow last Monday morning on my way to Juneau where I would meet my supervisor, Darlene, and attend a three day nursing charting class. A seven hour layover in Anchorage allowed for a wonderful visit with my cousins Robyn and Nene and a good friend, Margaret. After lunch we shopped at REI where Nene showed me the down skirts…really cute and amazingly warm…perfect for walking as well as keeping warm during flights, especially to the villages on the small aircraft. We visited the boot section, looking for some warm pack boots, tried on several pairs and ventured on to Army Navy Surplus where with Robyn’s help, was able to find a nice-looking (that’s important = ) pair of Baffin pack boots rated for -40ᵒ F. I’m grateful for their help and am feeling much more prepared for winter in Barrow…bring it on! = ) No, wait…don’t take that seriously…this slow but steady progression into the dark and cold is much preferred.

Darlene and I met in Juneau late Monday night, rented a car and enjoyed our entrance into a place quite unlike Barrow, complete with snow laden trees and white dusted mountains rising high directly from and all around the city as well as across the bay. Coming from the barren beauty of Barrow where there is not a tree or a mountain within hundreds of miles, it was transfixing. The following days and nights were predominated by strong, loud gusts of winds making it difficult to move forward or to breathe at times when walking. By Tuesday morning, the snow had been blown from the trees and the mountains no longer looked quite as white. We had hoped to be able to drive to local sights including Mendenhall Glacier, the Capital building and the Governor’s mansion but darkness surrounded us when our sessions ended each day and icy driving conditions made it seem wise to not traverse the narrow uphill streets, knowing we would also need to negotiate coming back down. We saw enough of the beauty of Juneau to look forward to returning in March for Well-Child training, hoping for better weather, more light and to be able to explore. The many shops that lined the streets near our hotel held beautiful art work, colorful outdoor clothing, and gifts of all sorts calling to us, inviting us to return in the spring as well with our wallets thicker than they were on this trip.

The charting training was extremely helpful. We use what is called an encounter form for each visit by each person we serve. They vary according to the purpose of the visit and include ones for immunizations, well-child checks, adolescent and adult visits, women’s health, TB, and STD/HIV. Each form has assessment areas specific to the type of client being served as well as areas that are common to each where subjective/objective narratives are written. The instructors helped each of us to understand that correct charting creates a comprehensive history for each individual as well as making the data base system useful in generating accurate local, regional and state-wide reports capturing important combined statistics. Much time was spent instructing us to input specific wording for purpose of visit and because these fall off each person’s history in two years or after ten visits, creating a problem list with associated treatment notes ensures that this information is retained permanently. We had each faxed examples of our charting prior to attending the training and met with individual instructors who showed us where improvements were needed. Both Darlene and I had been trained by our data entry clerk and the nurses who we had shadowed. It became clear that they would need to attend upcoming training sessions as well. Another goal of the training was to prepare us for electronic charting that is being developed. There was an emphasis on the legalities of correct charting from the perspective of protecting our nursing licenses. All we record in each client’s chart is considered legal documentation and can either protect or cause one to lose their nursing license if challenged in court.