As healthcare facilities navigate workforce shortages amidst shifts in settings of care outside of the hospital and virtually, facilities have an opportunity to leverage technology to provide care more efficiently. Nursing staff across care settings are positioned to be heavy adopters of technology due to their scope of work and time spent with patients. Several technology tools are available to enable nurses to improve the quality of care through faster communication, increased efficiency, increased patient safety, prevention of burnout, and improved access to patient records.
Here are 6 ways that nursing technologies are improving patient care.
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Using technology and its associated data to improve patient care
Although electronic Health Records (EHRs) have been prevalent in healthcare for almost 25 years, their functionality has been continually expanded as the other information systems around them have matured. With the advent of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and other means to facilitate interoperability and the sharing of healthcare data, more data is available to be used in EHRs to increase the quality of care and medical decision-making. Data available through EHRs and their connected digital solutions provide nurses with increased knowledge to inform point-of-care decisions, improving patient care.
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Expanded Integrated Functionality in Electronic Health Records
As the administrative aspects of healthcare become more burdensome, mundane administrative tasks get delegated to lower-level employees, which are often nurses including Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants. While they can complete these administrative tasks, such as data entry, these responsibilities take away from their time at the bedside improving patient care. In the past 5 years, many EHRs have implemented their integrated forms, or partner with outside vendors to provide integrated forms, which allow for patient information to be directly entered into the EHR without a duplicative entry from nursing staff. This technology streamlines data intake and allows for nurses to move beyond data entry roles and focus more on patient care.
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Automated Medical Equipment
In inpatient settings, automated medical equipment is transforming the administration and monitoring of medications. An example of this is automated IV pumps that deliver a precise dosage and amount of medication to a patient and can be changed without the intervention of a nurse at the bedside. Instead, these automations can be controlled from a centralized command center on the patient’s floor, allowing nurses to more efficiently provide high-quality care to a greater number of patients.
Another example of automated medical equipment creating efficiencies for nurses is smart bed technology. Smart beds provide an in-room monitor that serves as an automated data source for vitals and movement. This can help the nursing team better understand their patient’s lifestyle and movement patterns to gain insights into their medical condition and overall health.
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Training Technologies
With the current shortages of nurses, it is important to graduate practice-ready nurses quickly. Current shortages of clinical trial sites and limited access to live patients during clinicals create barriers to quick and effective graduation, leading to ill-prepared nurses in the workforce.
Wolters Kluwer reports that 65% of nursing programs are currently using a form of virtual simulation in their training to better engage nurses in the classroom[1]. In addition to these technologies providing opportunities for virtual reality patient care, they also prepare nurses for modern tech-enabled nursing practice as innovative technologies are becoming more prevalent in care settings.
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Diagnostic Monitors
Diagnostic monitoring devices allow nurses to care for and monitor patients remotely or while outside of traditional care settings. These monitors can automatically track pulse rates, ECG, oxygen levels, respiratory rates, and other vital signs. They also provide increased means to monitor patient safety as these monitors can include parameters that alert staff when a patient’s vitals vary from normal ranges. Similar to other technologies mentioned above, when these tasks are automated, they free nurses up for other tasks, creating efficiencies.
Additionally, many diagnostic monitors are now portable and can be used to provide care and monitoring to patients outside of traditional clinical settings. Examples of these include at-home vital monitors, for now, available for patients to purchase directly.
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Telehealth
Paired with the at-home diagnostic monitors noted above, telehealth presents an opportunity for providers to deliver effective care to patients in their own homes. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of telehealth dramatically, and nurses were frontline care providers to adopt and use the tools for communication, counseling, coaching, providing education, and overseeing care management across multiple care settings. Telehealth helps ease the nursing shortage as it enables nurses to provide greater attention to patients without the “red tape” of traditional on-site appointments, improving the efficiency of the care.
Administrators should view current nursing staffing shortages as an opportunity to innovate the nursing role through the introduction of technology. With access to the appropriate technologies, nurses are empowered to complete their jobs more efficiently while delivering improved patient outcomes. At weCare we are at the forefront of innovation, bringing medical staffing into the 21st century with technology-enabled processes and procedures. We strive to give medical professionals more control of their workweek and provide a platform where medical professionals, schedulers, and facilities interact in real-time. We take the quality of our nursing staff seriously so that as a facility you can have peace of mind. We are now one of the largest medical staffing agencies in Florida. We currently have 400+ medical professionals staffed across 27 facilities.
[1] Walters Kulwer - 65% of nursing education programs adopting virtual simulation
