Nursing 2.0: Improving Care Through Technology

June 5, 2015

Anne Boyd Rabkin, Senior Community Benefit Program Manager, El Camino Hospital

Dan Weberg

This is archived content, for historical reference only.

Remote monitoring systems, such as 3-D cameras, laser imaging devices, and high definition video — to name a few — are allowing nurses to assess patients more easily than ever before. Patients are being informed, connected, and activated through social networks, and care providers are accessing information instantly through mobile devices, data dashboards, and virtual learning systems. With these innovations come changes in workflow, new decisionmaking processes, learning curves as staff are trained, and an evolution in the patient-provider relationship.

LASER SCANS AND WOUND CARE – Laser measurement technology and a camera are used to create 3-D images, which accurately measure the wound size and depth, and record a high-definition image of the wound. (Image courtesy of ARANZ Medical)
LASER SCANS AND WOUND CARE – Holding the device — weighing about as much as a large coffee cup — above the wound, the nurse lines up laser lines over the center of the wound, clicks a button, and the data are uploaded to a computer. In one click, the wound is measured and an image taken. (Image courtesy of ARANZ Medical)
LASER SCANS AND WOUND CARE – Synchronized via the Internet, wound information becomes centrally available to care teams, specialists, and administrators. It can be integrated with the facility’s EMR. (Image courtesy of ARANZ Medical)
LASER SCANS AND WOUND CARE – Communication, clinical decisionmaking, and risk management are facilitated through a database of patient information. Care providers can see changes over time and quickly understand the wound’s “story.” (Image courtesy of ARANZ Medical)
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT ON TV – This screenshot of a TV monitor shows the different ways inpatients can get health care information or contact hospital staff. (Image courtesy of the Carolinas HealthCare System)
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT ON TV – This patient is learning how to use the interactive TV system to find out more about her medications. (Image courtesy of the Carolinas HealthCare System)
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT ON TV – Young patients receive programming that is age-appropriate. The system’s cartoon graphics of different hospital features capture the attention of this young inpatient, her little sister, and their mom. (Image courtesy of the Carolinas HealthCare System)

Patient Engagement Now Playing: Using Smart TV to Improve the Hospital Experience, the second case study in a series, looks at the use of interactive TV systems to engage inpatients in their care environments.

This series explores different areas of technology innovation in the field of nursing: instant information, patient engagement, telehealth, social networks for population health, and electronic Intensive Care Unit (eICU). It features members of the Innovation Learning Network (ILN), a community of health care leaders and innovators focused on making health care better through good design.

The first two case studies, as well as a prior report on this topic, Equipped for Efficiency: Improving Nursing Care Through Technology, are available under Document Downloads.