Technology-Enabled Nursing Practice

Technology-based approaches to improve efficiency, access, and clinical outcomes have been deployed across the health care field for years. However, few of these technologies are developed by and for nurses. And fewer still are designed specifically to support nursing care and coordination. This results in significant consequences for the nurse and, by extension, patients. For example, with the implementation of electronic health records, nurses’ documentation time increased from nine percent to 23 percent.

Nurses are highly qualified and trained to provide exemplary patient care. Yet, nurses must often focus on task-oriented activities instead of holistic and solutions-based care of their patients. This leads to nurses working “below their license” performing routine tasks such as transporting stable patients or picking up medications from the pharmacy. This highlights an opportunity for technological innovations to both automate routine tasks and elevate the value that nurses can bring to a care team, ensuring a higher quality of care and higher levels of satisfaction from nurses.

Technology-Enabled Nursing Practice pilots will leverage AI, robotization, and other emerging technologies to enable nurses to increasingly move from task-oriented activities to solution-based care of their patients. As more and more non-nursing tasks and routine functions of nursing are automated or augmented, nurses can focus more on reducing health inequities and improving patient outcomes. By engaging nurses in designing and developing solutions, the culture of nursing transforms to one of innovation and adaptability.