Technological advances in healthcare touch almost every aspect of the nursing profession. From how nurses are recruited and supported to how they do their jobs and interact with their peers, patients, and supervisors, some form of tech is likely at use. If you are trying to fill the ranks of your nursing staff, you already know that competition is fierce. Technology can help to recruit, hire, train, and retain staff. Embracing technology can be a differentiator for your organization, the nurses you employ, and the patients you serve.
Digital Recruiting for Nurses
Hiring nurses was once a long and challenging process conducted solely by humans. But technology can help you expedite hiring. Regardless of where you post your job listings online, you can ensure that search engines find your posts before other facilities by concentrating on industry keywords. Algorithms can sync postings to resumes that are uploaded on social media sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Nurse.com. The sites allow nurses to create profiles and get notified when jobs match their skills. And they will enable you to search based on the experience and skills you require for each job.
You can also use your own applicant tracking system that lets software sort through resumes before they get to a human. The program scans digital documents to ensure applicants meet minimum qualifications by the skills they list on their resumes, eliminating unnecessary interviews and improving efficiencies.
Blockchain Credentialing
Old-school methodologies to check and confirm nursing credentials took time and resources while often frustrating nurses waiting for the okay to move forward. Blockchain credentials can include licenses, training history, and references. They are secure, fraud-proof, and quick and easy to verify, allowing you to move the hiring process along more quickly.
Electronic Health Records
Mandated for “meaningful use” in 2014 as part of the HITECH Act, electronic health records (EHR) are now universally implemented across the U.S. In their best usage, they standardize care, increase accessibility, improve efficiencies, prevent errors, initiate collaboration, empower healthcare practitioners, and facilitate better patient care.
When nurses and the entire healthcare team can input and access real-time health records electronically, they can provide better patient care and feel more satisfied in their roles. EHRs can provide quick, accurate, and complete information about individual patients so they receive coordinated care that considers a range of diagnoses, prescriptions, and outcomes. EHRs also can help reduce medical errors by noting potentially adverse drug interactions and allergies. Compared to the cumbersome use of paper records, EHRs can be more efficient and save time and money.
When used and secured as intended, EHRs are invaluable. However, you must ensure the software is continually updated and that your staff is well-supervised in their use. Your nurses need ample training time on the systems and a complete understanding of their benefits, so the whole team is on the same page.
Automated Care Plans
Automating the documentation for health treatment plans replaces an arduous process with one that is accurate and efficient while also being fully customizable for individual patients. The software can improve patient outcomes, help the nursing staff better assess treatment goals, and expedite reporting. And the efficiencies and productivity gained through automated care plans can give nurses more free time and a better work-life balance.
Healthcare Collaboration Tools
Whether your team communicates with patients through Zoom or IMs healthcare partners using Microsoft Teams, the presence of online collaboration tools has transformed the way healthcare workers work with one another. Your team can connect with their colleagues to send emails, access EHRs, collaborate on live documents, and speak in real-time through chat features on a computer. The immediacy with which nurses can communicate with one another and other healthcare team members can mean the difference between being timely and too late.
Technology in Nurse Caseload Management
Patient caseload is repeatedly cited as a root cause of nurse job dissatisfaction. Case management software can be extraordinary tools to improve staffing equity and satisfaction. They can help improve health outcomes, boost efficiencies, reduce absenteeism in nursing staff, increase retention, and create a better working environment. Particularly in district nursing scenarios, the use of digital tools can be an important asset. When a major hospital system in northeastern Florida adopted an AI-powered solution, Indicia for Effective Focus, the hospital calculated a 10% reduction in Observation Care rate that can be attributed to the use of the Indicia solution. The new technology has helped optimize existing staff resources without having to hire additional nurses at a time when recruiting healthcare professionals is challenging.
Are There Dangers in Relying on Technology for Nursing?
Despite the many benefits technology can bring to nursing, some caveats come with any digital medical practice. Even pristine technology is only as good as its users, but equipment failures can also occur. Over-reliance on technology can prove dangerous when that technology doesn’t work or when the implementation doesn’t go as planned. Especially for an older workforce that may be less likely to embrace technology, it’s important to make the transition to new systems and protocols as seamless as possible. The last result you want is a technology that is abandoned because it’s deemed too difficult to use or a staff that feels frustrated rather than empowered.
Are you looking to recruit, hire, and train a nursing staff that will stay with your facility long term? You need to embrace technology for all its benefits and be aware of where it might fall short. Global Nurse Partners is a nurse placement agency that uses technology without ever forgetting that nursing has always been about human-to-human contact. We specialize in international nurse recruitment for direct-hire opportunities. Let us help you assemble a passionate team of professionals. Learn more. Request a consultation today.