Posted by Debbie Patterson
Health Records
“My dad always said I should be a nurse because I’ve always been a night owl,” Debbie Patterson says. “Instead I worked the overnight shift of admitting and registration for 15 years.”
Patterson has been with Health Records department in her current role for six years. She analyzes the patient charts and figures out where they are deficient.
“I find it very interesting and I get to interact with the physicians more often and I like that aspect,” Patterson says. “I think it’s very important work we do. If there is an incomplete chart and a patient shows up in Cape Breton or another hospital and their charts aren’t complete, we may not be able to provide the information they are requesting. The services we provide are integral to a patient’s ongoing care.”
Patterson says that the team started scanning charts in 2013 and the numbers of incomplete charts are going in the right direction. “Dr. Gerard Corsten and Nadine Loppie have been instrumental in achieving these numbers”.