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Digitalization and transmission of clinical information in nursing (digi-care)

The project investigated the influence of digitalisation on the transfer of clinical patient information in nursing and developed learning materials and IT mock-ups for better digitalised processes for nursing staff.

Factsheet

Situation

The digitalisation of healthcare is changing the way care teams communicate and share knowledge. The Digi-Care project, carried out in collaboration with EHB, is part of the Swiss National Science Foundation's National Research Programme NRP 77 "Digital Transformation" and aimed to understand how the use of digital tools and clinical information systems influences the transfer of clinical patient information in care teams. The effects on the competence requirements of nursing staff were highlighted and IT-related events were identified that can be assessed as critical from a technological perspective. The starting point was a study in hospitals in which nurses were accompanied and filmed during their work. The nurses involved were then asked to comment on excerpts of their filmed activities. Typical situations of information transfer with the use of digital tools were identified and validated together with the participating nurses, hospital IT managers and training managers. On this basis, we developed a multimedia prototype in the form of an interactive 360° video on the topic of handover, IT mock-ups for the carers' personal work lists and checklists for the transition to the operating theatre. We also formulated learning situations for the training and further education of nursing staff.

Course of action

In phase 1, we conducted an ethnographic study with job shadowing and autoconfrontation interviews in 6 hospital departments in Italian-speaking (n=2) and German-speaking Switzerland (n=4). Situations were recorded in which clinical patient information was passed on using digital tools. In order to capture the subjective meaning of the situations for the nurses, semiological analyses of the activity were carried out. We also recorded IT-related events during the observations. We analysed whether these could be avoided by improving the usability of the IT systems. In phase 2, information transfer situations that were considered significant and IT events that could be improved were selected and validated in workshops with nursing staff, nursing managers and IT managers. Some of the workshops were also attended by hospital training managers and representatives and students from educational institutions. In phase 3, a multimedia prototype and learning situations were developed that can be used in educational institutions and hospitals for training and further education. This was accompanied by representatives from the hospitals and educational institutions. For selected IT events, we developed IT mock-ups and IT use case descriptions that show how such events can be avoided through better IT processes.

Result

On the EHB Digi-Care project website, you can access the multimedia prototype on the topic of handover of duties and the text-based learning situations. You will also find two IT mock-ups: a digitised personal work list for nursing staff on mobile devices as a replacement for paper, and a digitised pre-operative checklist. Two further IT events were presented at the level of optimised IT use case descriptions.

Looking ahead

Methods from Digicare were extended to 7 hospitals in the USA, Denmark, Finland and Estonia during a six-month sabbatical abroad. The partners EHB and BFH I4MI also participated in an Erasmus+ application EuroCare AI Academy: Empowering European Nurses with Artificial Intelligence.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bürkle

  • Co-Leiter Institut I4MI
  • +41 32 321 67 31
  • Show e-mail
Nachgestellte Beobachtungssituation am Patientenbett (BFH)
Simulated observation situation at a patient's bedside (BFH).

This project contributes to the following SDGs

  • 3: Good health and well-being

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