Introduction
Innovation becomes an integral part of all spheres of human activity as it helps to achieve higher performance levels and better outcomes. These advantages are critical for the healthcare sector as its primary goal is to promote the health of the nation and improve the quality of people’s lives. That is why there are numerous attempts to implement new devices into the work of various facilities, including the intensive care unit (ICU), to guarantee that patients will enjoy the enhanced and safer environment. However, along with some possible benefits, some risks should be considered because of the potential threat to the health of individuals. The improved understanding of the effects of new devices on the life and state of patients in ICUs and other clinical settings is critical regarding the modern tendency towards the digitalization of the hospital environment.
Possible Improvements
One of the first possible improvements that can increase the level of patients’ comfort is the be glass controlled by the nurse inside the room. By using a special button, it ensures privacy for a patient during various procedures or care delivery (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2014). This innovation can replace traditional curtains that should be washed regularly or blinds that should be repaired. Instead, by using be glass, a nurse can create an environment that helps a patient to relax. The given innovation does not pose any threat to the health of individuals and can be recommended as an appropriate alternative to traditional barriers.
A mobile telemetry unit is another tool that is expected to change the work of nurses and increase their effectiveness. It offers multiple benefits to a health worker. First, it allows him/her to gather the patient’s vitals and analyze them to determine the current state (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2017). Moreover, it ensures the high accuracy of measurement and eliminates the negative impact on the human factor as the mobile telemetry unit uses innovations that guarantee the collection of up-to-date and relevant data. Additionally, during the measurement procedure, the device sends results into the electronic medical record of a patient (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2017). The given method introduces multiple benefits both for patients and nurses. Mistakes in medical records are one of the factors that deteriorate outcomes and might precondition the emergence of adverse effects. The mobile telemetry tool helps to reduce the probability of failures and protect clients.
Technologies can also be used to guarantee safety to patients in ICU. The use of the infusion pump platform is one of the possible approaches to avoid flaws in the provision of care. The given device controls the dose of the medicine that is administered to a patient at the moment (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2014). If a nurse programs too low or too high dosage, the platform blocks the income of a drug and signalizes the need for a new prescription (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2014). Moreover, it can be linked to the hospital’s network to ensure that the administration of drugs will be aligned in accordance with the patient’s medical records (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2014). The employment of this tool in ICUs will help to minimize negative outcomes and provide advantages both to patients and nurses as they will benefit from the absence of critical flaws in the process of care delivery.
However, not all emerging technologies are safe and can be used in the healthcare sphere without any concerns. For instance, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for autonomous patient monitoring can be promising regarding the need for improved data collection in ICUs (Davoudi et al., 2018). In cases of critically ill patients, the utilization of this innovation is feasible and can help to improve the environment vital for their recovery (Davoudi et al., 2018). At the same time, there are some risks associated with the ability of AI to make correct decisions during the monitoring if the deterioration of a client’s state can be observed (Sharma et al., 2018). Moreover, some failures in the work of the equipment might corrupt data and form the mistaken idea or representation of the patient. For this reason, there are still some risks that should be taken into account when reconsidering the work of ICU.
Nevertheless, regardless of the existing fears and risks, it is impossible to ignore the technologies and advantages they offer. For instance, in-room monitors and handheld tablets provide an opportunity for both nurses and patients to see imaging results, discuss them, and outline the planned intervention to attain better treatment outcomes and make patients recover (Intelligent Hospital TV, 2017). The in-room monitor can also be used to entertain patients, which is critical for their comfort and satisfaction levels.
Conclusion
Altogether, there are multiple options on how to innovate the healthcare sector. The majority of emerging technologies offer benefits for both clients and nurses because of the increased accuracy of measurement, better monitoring of vitals, constant exchange of data, and exceptional comfort levels for patients. At the same time, some risks should be considered because of the appearance of some threats to the health and lives of patients. In general, emerging devices are the future of the healthcare sector, and their broad use should be facilitated to guarantee desired enhanced outcomes.
References
Davoudi, A., Malhotra, K. R., Shickel, B., Siegel, S., Williams, S., Ruppert, M.,… & Rashidi, P. (2018). The intelligent ICU pilot study: Using artificial intelligence technology for autonomous patient monitoring. Web.
Intelligent Hospital TV. (2014). The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ pavilion [Video file]. Web.
Intelligent Hospital TV. (2017). The Intelligent Hospital™ pavilion debuts at Vitalis 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden [Video file]. Web.
Sharma, A., Harrington, R. A., McClellan, M. B., Turakhia, M. P., Eapen, Z. J., Steinhubl, S.,… & Green, E. M. (2018). Using digital health technology to better generate evidence and deliver evidence-based care. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 71(23), 2680-2690.