UW-Oshkosh nursing students among first to try new electronic health record platform from Epic

Lyceum, a program by Epic, allows University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh nursing students to receive instruction on electronic health records early in their educational journey.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh nursing students are staying a step ahead as they learn the latest technology that allows seamless communication between doctors, nurses and staff.

Epic, a Wisconsin-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) company, is well known by patients and healthcare providers. Its newest program offering, Lyceum, gives medical and nursing students a quality introduction to an electronic health record early in their education. Lyceum allows students to practice documenting and building a patient's health care story, including such data as medications and doses, tests and results, procedures and allergies.

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Most students historically don't get this type of EHR practice until they are providing real patient care. UW-Oshkosh is one of the first in the nation/globally (and the very first public university nursing program) to use Lyceum.

The training at UWO began in fall 2024 when the College of Nursing (now College of Nursing, Health Professions, and STEM), began a pilot of the program.

With Lyceum, participating medical and nursing schools receive their own Epic "environment," configured with standardized patients that allow each student the opportunity to practice using a real EHR across common patient care scenarios.

"Lyceum helps nursing students connect their classroom learning and clinical skill development with the HER tools they'll use throughout their careers. As one of its first adopters, UWO is showing how schools can give new nurses a stronger foundation from day one," said Paul Hogseth, Lyceum lead at Epic.

UWO students are graduating with highly-sought, career-ready skills-Lyceum is being employed alongside expert faculty instruction in emerging technology including virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Students can tell potential employers-including those at their clinical sites-they are competent in the use of Epic.

Ping Li, nursing informatics theory faculty and clinical informatics manager-WI Central Region at Advocate Aurora Healthcare, said UWO nursing students not only have the knowledge and confidence in their future job interviews regarding the use of EHR Epic, its design and functionalities, but also when they start orientation in their new role as an RN.

"They are ahead of other new nurses in terms of using Epic-rational behind certain workflow designs and processes as they've had the opportunity to practice and become competent in the Lyceum Epic platform while a student at the UWO School of Nursing and Health Professions."

Educational springboard

Since fall 2024, UWO nursing sophomores got the chance to use Lyceum in their classroom, lab and in simulation.

Dustin Branton of Mauston, said he appreciated receiving Lyceum training as a student, before starting his career.

"It was a little intimidating at first-it was kind of in-depth-but after having an introduction to it, I feel a lot more confident," Branton said.

Dean Chung said one of the roles of the nurse is to enter verbal medication orders given by the provider in limited urgent situations. It requires the nurse to attend to every detail of a medication order.

Students are shown how a medication order is entered in the EHR, including details such as dosage, route, order mode, and provider name.

Branton said starting Lyceum training during sophomore II semester was ideal. He and other students learned the flow of Epic and its implementation, making the journey at clinical sites a lot easier.

"We have a leg up on learning," he said about the unique opportunity at UWO.

Branton said he likes taking care of people and he is interested in the physiology of the body. After earning his Bachelor of Science in nursing, he hopes to continue his education to become a nurse practitioner. His goal is to work for UW Health in Madison.

Career-ready

Lyceum training creates a forward-thinking, dynamic educational experience for students who benefit from true-to-life experiences throughout their nursing training.

"The goal is for our students to be proficient with the use of EHR," said Dean Seon Yoon Chung. "It is an integral part of the work that nurses (and really all health care professionals) do."

By providing students with experience using a real EHR early in their education, they are better prepared for future careers when they will be expected to use the EHR every day.

"It is amazing that Wisconsin has this global leader in healthcare and that UW-Oshkosh nursing students are able to be a part of learning with the Lyceum tool," said Polly Anderson, simulation coordinator and senior lecturer. "Nursing students from UWO can leverage the knowledge gained through the early utilization of this tool to become the leaders and drivers of health care for generations to come."

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