Patient Empowerment and Nursing Clinical Workflows Enhanced by Integrated Bedside Terminals.

BACKGROUND: Integrated bedside terminals (IBTs) were implemented at Humber River Hospital with the goal of supporting patient independence and autonomy and improving nursing workflows. The IBTs provide access to a range of convenience and entertainment services as well as access to personal health information. Due to the novelty of the technology, there is a paucity of empirical data on patients' use of, satisfaction with and perceptions of bedside terminals. AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of IBTs on patient empowerment and nursing workflows. METHODS: A mixed methods design was employed using a cross-sectional patient survey and semi-structured interviews with nurses. The patient survey assessed patient empowerment and satisfaction with the range of services offered through the IBT. Patient scores were summarized using descriptive statistics. Additionally, face-to-face interviews with nurses were used to illicit feedback regarding the IBTs' impacts on nursing workflows. RESULTS: In total, 113 patients and 11 nurses participated in the study. Analysis of patient satisfaction surveys indicated that the IBTs enhanced the patient experience and increased self-care management. Nurses reported that the IBTs helped patients feel comfortable and entertained and helped enhance the nurse-patient relationship. However, nurses also expressed concern that elderly patients were less inclined to use the IBT. CONCLUSION: The results from the present study suggest that the IBT system has the potential to empower patients and decrease demands on nurses. Patients' notes incorporated into the IBT may provide the necessary level of involvement to garner a greater sense of patient empowerment. The IBT does not replace the need for nurses to deliver information to patients in a manner that supports their trust.

A Window Toward the World: Older Adults' Experiences of Becoming in Health and Developing as Human Beings Through Interacting With Others Using Real Video Communication.

The population in the Nordic countries, as well as globally, is increasingly becoming older. Concurrently, with an increased aging population, there is an increase in poor health and loneliness among older adults. The aim of this study was to uncover, from a caring science perspective, community-living older adults' experiences of interacting with others via real video communication. The study uses a hermeneutical approach. The material consists of interviews with older adults regarding their experiences of using real video communication. The texts were interpreted through hermeneutical reading. Study participation and data storage and handling for research purposes were approved by the participants when they provided their informed consent. Ethical permission to conduct this study was granted by a research board. The findings uncovered that welfare technology offers a metaphor-a window toward the world-that comprises the overarching core theme "Being in a movement toward becoming a unity as a human being," and 3 main themes: "Alleviating suffering through beating involuntary solitude," "Being in the world as an equal and dignified human being," and "Dedicating new perspectives and meaning in life." Welfare technology seems to be an important means to improve the quality of life for older adults living at home. Welfare technology enables older people to be in contact with other people in an easy way. Further research is needed to uncover issues of welfare technology from different perspectives.

Smart boards: a reemerging technology.

Smart boards, also known as interactive whiteboards (IWBs), are large, interactive, touch-sensitive displays that are mainly used for presentation or educational purposes. While some may not consider this an emerging technology today, changes in the design and capabilities challenge that line of thinking. This column will explain what a smart board is, provide a brief history about it, and describe where it is currently used and why it might be a technology to consider having in a library today.

TB or Not TB: interreader and intrareader variability in screening diagnosis on an iPad versus a traditional display.

Mobile displays may have the ability to increase the flexibility of consulting radiologists if they can be shown not to negatively influence a reader's performance in clinical tasks. The authors report a comparison of a mobile display with a larger liquid crystal display for the task of making a binary decision for the diagnosis of tuberculosis on chest radiography. Deidentified DICOM images of 240 chest x-rays were transferred from a PACS to an iPad 2 running OsiriX HD software. The images were reviewed independently by 5 radiologists of varying experience and were graded as positive or negative for tuberculosis on both the liquid crystal display monitor and the iPad. The reading sessions were a minimum of 2 weeks apart to minimize recall bias. Agreement was measured in terms of κ statistics. Overall, multirater generalized κ was 0.9694. These results suggest that there is no detectable effect of monitor type (liquid crystal display or iPad 2) on the reader's decision for the task of tuberculosis diagnosis.

The evolution of display technologies in PACS applications.

Picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) systems have been around for over a decade now. The most visible components in a PACS system are the PACS workstations. Most of the clinical users of PACS only interact with the display hardware/software pieces and never truly think about the archival and communications that occur behind the scenes. This paper discusses the evolution of PACS display technology in the past 16 yr, which can roughly be divided into three phases and will also discuss future emerging trends.