title: Wireless technology improves nursing workflow and communications.
abstract: Inpatient healthcare delivery involves complex processes that require interdisciplinary teamwork and frequent communication among physicians, nurses, unit secretaries, and ancillary staff. Often, these interactions are not at a nursing unit, or near a phone. In an effort to address the inefficiencies of these workflow processes and communications, St. Agnes HealthCare, Baltimore, MD, installed a new hands-free communications system that uses a wireless network, voice recognition, and a small wearable badge. Developed by Vocera, the communications system permits one-button access to others on the system or connects to outside phones through PBX integration. While many agree that today's technology has the potential to positively impact nursing care delivery, St. Agnes HealthCare and Vocera, with assistance from First Consulting Group, decided to conduct a comprehensive benefits study in December 2003 to quantify the impact of this communications system on workflow and communications. The results identified a number of significant findings that demonstrate its value from a quantitative and qualitative standpoint. The following article describes this study and its findings.
authors.affiliation: St. Agnes HealthCare, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Breslin
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Greskovich
authors.forename: Fran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Turisco
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015142:Baltimore; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000592:standards*; D003142:Communication; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004867:Equipment Design; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008502:Medical Secretaries / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D016526:Workload