Who remembers this?
datarover.com
datarover.com
datarover.com
The hypothesis was that nurses could be more productive and improve their quality of service by using handhelds. The initial study had student nurses use paper and pencil documentation with actual home-based patients. A second group used FITNE's Nightingale Tracker system, consisting of DataRover's 840 handhelds-along with its Magic Cap 3.1 OS-wired to a Windows NT server at the school.
"We found the DataRover's interface very user-friendly," says Vicky Elfrink, R.N., Ph.D., and project manager of the Nightingale Tracker initiative. "While on location, students entered data based on a clinical vocabulary that can be faxed or emailed from the DataRover. The clinical records then were sent to the server and a waiting instructor."
Faculty members maintained a supervisory link with students by accessing the server from a phone or a local-area network where they gave email advice or even real-time supervision from DataRover's built-in speaker phone. The study measured such things as customer satisfaction, length of time spent with patients and the number of mistakes the students made.
What the study revealed was that the average time the nurses who used pad and paper spent with patients was 45 minutes, while the average time on the Nightingale Tracker was 21 minutes. The students using the handhelds reported feeling more connected and confident with the care they gave.
"Interestingly," says DataRover CEO Steven Schramm, "when they measured customer satisfaction, the patients were more satisfied as well."
Schramm attributes this to two factors: first, the patients were inconvenienced for only half as much time; and second, the patients felt they were getting better service from the nurse.
"We asked the patients what they meant by that," says Schramm, "and they said it used to be that nurses would spend all their time with their heads down, scribbling notes. But now the nurses were entering the information with a few taps, freeing them to talk and develop a more interactive rapport."
Following the study, FITNE selected seven U.S. nursing schools-out of a competitive field of 42 applicants-to serve as Centers of Excellence in Community Health Care and Nursing Technology. Each center has incorporated FITNE's Nightingale Tracker into its curriculum, with FITNE providing ongoing support and intensive training to each schools' clinical and technical staff.
Elfrink says 25 schools have adopted the Tracker system, which includes more than 250 DataRover 840 units in the field.
"Schools have a mission to take on technology," says Elfrink. "Their struggle is how to fund it and get return on investment. We've seen a great deal of enthusiasm for these handhelds. They're light, portable and efficient." |
