Nationwide, nurse workloads have increased due to staffing shortages resulting in dissatisfaction levels among nurses that are three to five times higher than the
average worker. Nurses simply lack the time to do what they joined the
profession to do – provide quality patient care. Today nurses spend
so much time chasing down information that their career becomes
frustrating.
In the report titled, “What works, healing the healthcare staffing
shortage”, Dr. David Pryor, senior vice president at Ascension
Health says, “There is a component of communication and teamwork
that must be present in the environment in order to provide
high-quality care and retain staff. Nurses are providing frontline
care and nurse turnover is directly related to effective communication
on the floor.”
“It’s time consuming when you’re called and someone else could
have taken care of the problem. You spend so much time chasing down
information,” said Danielle Reed, Charge Nurse at Sarasota Memorial
Hospital. “There’s always an issue of nurses not having enough
time for bedside care.”
A solution is on the horizon.
Trey Lauderdale, Vice President of Innovation at Voalté, was working
for Emergin (recognized as a pioneer and market leader in alarm
management and automated event notification solutions for healthcare
facilities) as the Southeast Regional Sales Manager when he witnessed
the plight of discouraged nurses. He observed the nurses having to
cover more ground and spending too much time searching for
information, and thought, “With today’s technology, there must be
a better solution.”
“Clear and accurate communication is crucial to delivering high
quality patient care,” said Lauderdale. “I knew there had to be a
better way. I wanted to provide a complete communication solution at
the point-of-care on one mobile platform.”
As an early iPhone adopter, Lauderdale recognized the potential of
integrating the device into the hospital environment. He was certain
an innovative communication platform such as the iPhone would improve
point-of-care communication and put the information they spend so much
time seeking right in the palm of their hand. Lauderdale’s vision
became a reality with the introduction of the Voalté One Solution
which provides voice, alarm and text services all on one device at the
point of care. The solution allows clinicians to spend more time
providing patient care and less time searching for elusive
information.
In June, Voalté launched a pilot program as part of its development
partnership with Sarasota Memorial Hospital in which nurses could give
immediate and direct feedback to the company via the iPhones. The
hospital staff worked closely with the Voalté team to gauge the
success of the solution, including how easily the nurses adapted to
carrying and using iPhones.
“The nurses have embraced the technology and have given us great
feedback,” said P.J. Floyd, Associate Chief Nursing Officer at
Sarasota Memorial Hospital. “The Voalté One makes them better able
to respond quickly to patient’s needs.”
An unanticipated benefit of the Voalté One pilot program was a
dramatic reduction in intercom chatter. The results of a private study
after the implementation of the Voalté application at Sarasota
Memorial revealed a 78 percent reduction in overhead paging.
“I would absolutely recommend the Voalté solution. Noise reduction
is a huge factor,” said Reed. “Before Voalté, we had to overhead
page whenever the phone rang. Now we can quietly and quickly text the
right person without disrupting the patients.”
“It’s not just wireless telephones for nurses. It’s not just
two-way paging,” said Lauderdale. “Voalté is redefining
communications at point of care, enhancing nurse satisfaction, and
giving them more time to do what they love – taking care of
patients.”
