I have blogged before about the other nurse which I have been training. She is a good nurse and a dear friend but lately she has realized she has some problems. Don’t we all?

I had been pointing out some of her issues long before she was willing to acknowledge that she had any. Her main issue was that she was way too detailed in her documentation and she did not get her documentation done in time. In my field if you don’t get your charts completed in a timely manner the company can not bill for reimbursement. Not good.

She talked to me last week and said she was upset because she had received an email from the administrator saying that she needed to finish her documentation. She asked me if I had gotten the same email. I said, “No, because I am never late with my charting. I always get it done the same day as the visit.”

I have told her previously that she was wasting time with her double documentation. She responded with saying that she was a type A personality and couldn’t change that. So I didn’t push it any further.

Then last week she asked me how I did what I do every day. The amount of patients I handle and the documentation getting in on time was a goal she thought she could never meet. I told her the same thing I had told her before. I document during the time with the patient and I try very hard not to double document. Not only is double documentation a waste of time but I have heard it is very easy for lawyers to use in a court case and they never use it in favor of the one who double documented.

I didn’t tear her down when she wouldn’t listen to me at first. Sometimes a person has to walk to the edge of a cliff before they are finally willing to listen to the wisdom which would have kept them in the pasture all along.