All Entries Tagged With: "Technology"
Tip of the month: Guidelines for using social media as background checks
By Shelley Cohen
The Internet has proved to be a great resource to managers with the greatest challenge seeming to be finding the time to research all that is available to us. Along with medical and nursing resources, the Internet has become a social highway for individuals as well as organizations.
As the generation gap continues to grow, managers are continuously amazed to hear of personal concerns being posted to social networks such as Facebook. On one hand, some of these sites may provide an opportunity for “pre-screening” job applicants. On the other hand, we see the benefit of looking up a prospective applicant and finding out they are a source for purchasing drugs or the real reasons they were fired from their last job. A question raised on the other side of this is one of discriminatory action. What if you declined to hire a person based on a social networking site story about them and you later find out, the posting was unreliable?
In-room computing: 5 tips to enhance patient-caregiver communication
When hospitals and medical groups transition to an electronic health record (EHR), many caregivers view the computer as interfering with, not helping communication with patients. I spent a big chunk of time reviewing the myriad studies about the relationship between bedside and in-office computer use and patient satisfaction. Based on all I’ve read, I’m convinced that EHR systems at the bedside and in medical offices can greatly enhance the patient experience of care and satisfaction.
Years ago (in the 90s), in-room computer use by caregivers was indeed a barrier to communication. Caregivers weren’t used to it and many resisted it. The systems were much less user-friendly, so caregivers struggled to access and enter information as the impatient consumer looked on. Also, far fewer consumers used computers themselves, so few patients realized the benefits of the computer for their care.
Virtual nurse aids with patient discharge
As medical records turn from paper to electronic only, and simulation training aids in nursing education, it is not hard to believe a virtual nurse is helping patients at the bedside with discharge information. Timothy Bickmore, a computer scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, MA designed the virtual nurse “Elizabeth” to help nurses and patients during the discharge process.
Elizabeth is a computer-animated character created from combining the facial expressions and gestures of doctors and nurses Bickmore taped. With the help of an animator, Bickmore was able to create all the animation segments the nurse delivers which Elizabeth will mimic when interacting with a patient. [more]
Sim Man 3G becoming more common in nursing education
Many facilities across the nation are investing in state-of-the art technology that allows students and staff members to gain real life experience without the fear of killing a patient.
The high-tech mannequin, Sim Man 3G, costs roughly $27,000, but can cost up to $60,000 with additional accessories and programs available for download onto the mannequin. Even though many facilities have been forced to cut back on their programs and spending, the price of Sim Man 3G has not deterred facilities from purchasing the state-of-the are technology. [more]
Apple’s iTouch and iPhones connect nurses in Florida hospital
On any given day at Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System in Florida, the overhead page was going off every three minutes. And when a patient is in pain and trying to recover, that can be an issue.
So Sarasota Memorial brought peace and quiet—along with improved healthcare—to its hospital by supplying Apple’s iTouch to its nurses.
With help from Voalte, a startup developing point-of-care communications company that uses mobile technology, Sarasota began a 60-day pilot program in June where 25 iPod Touches were given to nurses on one specific floor with the goal of reducing the amount of noise and inefficiency involved in paging.
The iTouches reduced the number of pages in eight hours from 172 to 38, while the devices received an average of 4,000 messages a day—along with positive comments from the patients on the floor. [more]
Announcing Patient Safety Monitor!
Have you ever needed to look up a hospital regulation in a neighboring state and not known where to look? Or have you needed to double check your state’s current regulation on patient identification, and had no time to go searching for the information? Well look no further!
HCPro launched its newest product earlier this week: Patient Safety Monitor, an online resource for your patient safety needs. The main feature is the Crosswalk, which organizes many patient safety-related regulations by what is required by The Joint Commission, CMS, and all 50 states. The product also features the monthly newsletter Briefings on Patient Safety, a tools library, access to our popular “Patient Safety Talk” listserv, and weekly news alert.
The Patient Safety Monitor blog is actually a part of the larger Patient Safety Monitor product, and you’ll now notice a link back to the home page in the “links” section in the righthand column of the blog. If you’re already a subscriber of Briefings on Patient Safety, you now have access to Patient Safety Monitor as part of your subscription.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Patient Safety Monitor, be sure to check out the demo. You can also sign up for a free 7-day trial.
Interactive Web site helps determine when flu symptoms are serious and when to seek help
Trying to decide whether that cough and on and off fever is something you should go see your doctor about? Debating to wait in the crowded Emergency Room for hours to see if you have swine flu? Well, what if you could determine the severity of your symptoms and whether a visit to the doctor is necessary, without ever leaving the comfort of your own home.
Microsoft has launched an interactive Web site; H1N1 Response Center, that will help determine just that. Using an assessment tool licensed by Emory University, the Web site aims to help consumers’ determine whether or not their symptoms are consistent with the H1N1 virus and if they should seek medical help. [more]
2.0 Web technology integrates a nursing program near you
As the terms “podcasts”, “wikis”, and “blogs” fill the vocabulary of nurses, physicians, students, and hospitals nationwide, more and more facilities are finding ways to integrate these new technology tools into the everyday hustle and bustle of the healthcare world.
In a recent study published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association, 53% of nursing schools and 45% percent of medical schools are now using Web 2.0 tools in their curricula. Also, 58% of nursing schools and 50% of medical schools intend to include Web 2.0 tools in the curricula within the next year. Web 2.0 is a term defining the second generation of Web development that allows users to do more with Web sites. Rather than just passively retrieving information, Web 2.0 technology allows users to own and exercise control over the data.
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Let’s talk: Twittering nurses connect us all
Twitter, the social networking site that allows users to keep friends, family, and colleagues up-to-date on everything that is happening in their lives, is taking the world by storm. Healthcare providers are commenting on surgeries in real time, nurses are reaching out for experts on the latest clinical care best practices, and there is a constant flow of information and advice.
The information you can share is never ending and Twitter is starting to become a useful tool in the nursing world. Here are some ways nurses and nurse managers are using Twitter:
Nurses, let your voice be heard and vote today!
New Jersey licensed nurses are being asked by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute and the Monmouth University Polling Institute with the cooperation of the Institute for Nursing, to register their opinions on doctors to help select the state’s best physicians.
Nurses were invited to participate in the program, “Nurses’ Choice”, through the quarterly Institute for Nursing newsletter, which is distributed, free of charge, to every licensed nurse in the state of New Jersey. Andrea Aughenbaugh, president of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, tells the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, “We believe that the data provided by nurses on the best doctors will provide New Jersey healthcare consumers with a new and trusted source for the best practicing physicians.”
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