AI in Nursing: Benefits and Challenges

The topic of AI-powered technology in healthcare ultimately leads to a host of concerns from healthcare staff. They have questions such as:

 

However, AI is already present in the world and doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. For now, the best thing nurses can do is familiarize themselves with the technology and try to understand how to implement it into their care as a tool rather than seeing it as an opponent.

AI-Driven Patient Monitoring Systems

One way that AI is entering the nursing field is through patient monitoring systems. Because AI can process large amounts of information rapidly, it's ideal for real-time monitoring and alerting staff to changes and trends. To nurses, this can feel like an intrusion on their job of observing and caring for their patients. In reality, the programs are helpful as a tool to detect critical changes even when the nurse is in another room or the patient is alone in their home. Furthermore, AI-driven technology can allow high-risk patients to remain in their homes, under surveillance, until hospitalization is required.

What can AI monitor?

The relatively non-invasive sensors can monitor patient vitals and metrics such as:

• Cardiac rhythm
• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Oxygen saturation
• Temperature
• Respiratory rate
• Blood glucose levels
• Activity levels

Imagine you're a home health nurse who is scheduling your day. You have a high-risk patient who enjoys time with his family in the comfort of his home. He lives in the center of your service area and has been stable throughout your weeks of caring for him. You are planning to see him halfway through your shift but receive an alert from AI-powered monitors that the patient developed a low-grade fever overnight. The technology also alerted you to a slight dip in their blood pressure and an uptick in their heart rate. Before the patient or family realizes a problem is developing, you identify a need for a visit. Upon arrival and further examination, you determine that your patient requires intervention for developing sepsis. Because you caught their illness early, they receive prompt treatment and recover quickly. You were no less a nurse on that day but could provide timely, life-saving care because you had tools to assist you in your assessment.

Predictive Analytics for Better Care Management

Predictive analytics is, simply put, predicting the future by analyzing the past. In healthcare, utilizing data from electronic health records, insurance reporting, medical imaging, and more can provide a picture of what is most likely to happen in the future. The benefits of forecasting the future in healthcare are vast. It can allow organizations to:

• Formulate the most effective care plans
• Create scheduling that provides the best staffing coverage
• Determine which patients are at high risk for readmission
• Determine which diseases a patient is at high risk of contracting
• Predict suicide attempts and intervene beforehand
• Increase cyber-security

These benefits lead to improved patient outcomes, increased workforce efficiency, and a positive bottom line.

Patient Outcomes

AI-driven predictive analytics provides a picture of what a patient has done and likely will do in the future. For instance, a hospital patient who struggles with behavioral health, social needs, and physical health may be at high risk for readmission. If alerted before discharge, staff can utilize their resources and skills to address these needs with the patient ahead of time, preventing another admission. This improves the patient's overall health outcome and saves the hospital money for readmission.

These tools can also assist in preventing the spread of illness. When a surge of diagnoses is noted, the system can alert early to a potential public health emergency. In fact, the AI platform BlueDot identified the COVID-19 outbreak nine days before the WHO and was able to accurately identify the cities where the virus was most likely to spread.

 

Increased Workforce Efficiency

Ask any nurse what the biggest challenges in healthcare are, and staffing is sure to make the list. With a growing number of patients and limited staffing availability, providing widespread patient care without burning out the workforce has become increasingly difficult. This is where AI technology can help.

Scheduling managers can use AI in nursing burnout prevention measures. They can task predictive analysis programs with developing a clear picture of facility needs and how to distribute staffing resources accordingly. This ensures coverage of patient needs and reduces staff stress and burnout.

Imagine you're a nurse on a busy Cardiac unit. You have your schedule for the week and are ready to work. However, upon arrival, you're told that the unit is slow, and you're being pulled to Oncology. You're willing but feel stressed because you don't have time to prepare or review your Oncology notes mentally. Then, about two hours before the end of your shift, you're asked to stay for an additional shift and move back to the Cardiac floor because several admissions have arrived while you were covering Oncology. Again, you're stressed because you did not schedule childcare for the additional shift and had planned to pick up dinner for your family on the way home. However, you want to take advantage of the financial boost and take the shift. By the end of your second shift, you're so stressed and exhausted that you just want to sleep.

Now, imagine that your scheduling manager utilized this technology to properly staff both units for the day. You arrived to find that you only had two patients, but know you'll likely receive some admissions throughout the shift. Additionally, you had signed up ahead of time to stay for a second shift when more admissions came in. Childcare and dinner were already covered at home, and you were ready to go. The use of AI in this scenario has enabled managers to adequately staff the units and reduce overall stress levels within the staffing pool.

Improved Bottom Line

Let's face it. While healthcare facilities are developed to care for ill patients, they must also keep a tight bottom line. Without a profit, they cannot afford to continue to staff the facility and improve care. It can be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, but money drives the bus, and healthcare systems need to continually review and adjust their spending to make it all work.

Improving patient outcomes, providing efficient and effective interventions, and proper staffing all lead to increased financial savings. Furthermore, utilizing AI-powered predictive analytics to perform cybersecurity can save millions throughout the healthcare sector. These savings can then be applied to additional staffing and medical technology to improve patient outcomes further. 

 

Automated Documentation and Administrative Tasks

Most nurses have experienced the drudgery of staying late after a shift to complete hours of documentation. Patients must always come first, so the mundane task of documenting every occurrence throughout the shift sometimes falls by the wayside. However, accurate charting is necessary to communicate patient conditions and trends, physician orders, and nursing care tasks.

AI technology can help ease the burden of documentation and other administrative tasks by improving workflows and organizing data gathering. Furthermore, predictive text and voice recognition can expedite input, giving staff more time for more important tasks.

Imagine you're a nurse on a busy unit who routinely stays after your shift for an hour's worth of documentation. Then, a new AI-powered documentation system is installed. You can input your notes via voice recognition, and the system pulls together patient data to create a helpful report that expedites your nurse-to-nurse report. Now, you're out the door on time and home with your family for an hour more each day.

The Benefits of AI in Reducing Errors and Improving Accuracy

Few things elicit a feeling of dread quite like the idea of making an error in healthcare. The last thing a nurse wants to do is to affect a patient's life by administering the wrong medication, incorrect dosage, or inappropriate treatment. You are constantly checking and rechecking before administration that you have the right patient, right time, right drug, right dose, right route, right reason, and right documentation. Then, you carefully document what you've done and how the patient responded, communicating every bit of information possible.

Artificial intelligence is the tool that can ease the anxiety of this task just a bit. While a nurse's critical thinking and judgment are still required, error reduction tools act as an additional layer of confirmation that you are doing the right thing. With a quick scan, the AI-powered tools will alert you if the drug you are about to administer does not match the patient's orders in some way and can provide reminders to verify factors such as blood pressure or pain level before administration. After the patient receives care, AI will alert you when to follow up and what side effects to monitor.

This technology does not replace a nurse's care and judgment but assists you by providing an additional layer of security throughout the process, ensuring peace of mind for the nurse and safety for the patient.

The Future of AI and Automation in Nursing

Healthcare is advancing with AI and automation, particularly in nursing and finance. As the technology evolves, we'll see more integration in patient monitoring, predictive analytics in patient-driven care, staffing, healthcare documentation, and error reduction. Furthermore, collaboration between AI-driven technology and patient care creates new and exciting AI nursing jobs, ideal for tech lovers looking to move away from the bedside.

Despite the benefits, some healthcare staff, particularly those uncomfortable with technology, remain hesitant to utilize the new systems. They're concerned that AI will replace them in their nursing jobs, harm patients, or result in additional tasks rather than easing their workload. Employers can validate and address these concerns through encouragement and education and ease staff into accepting the new technology.

  

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 Resources:

1. https://www.vivalink.com/wearable-products
2. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/bluedot-used-artificial-intelligence-to-predict-coronavirus-spread.html
3. https://www.symplr.com/blog/predictive-healthcare-staffing-ai-innovation#:~:text=Predictive%20analysis%20in%20healthcare%20improves,optimized%20scheduling%20and%20resource%20allocation.
4. https://itrexgroup.com/blog/predictive-analytics-in-healthcare-top-use-cases/
5. https://securityintelligence.com/articles/cost-of-a-data-breach-healthcare-industry/
6. https://www.nursingworld.org/~48f653/globalassets/practiceandpolicy/nursing-excellence/ana-position-statements/the-ethical-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-nursing-practice_bod-approved-12_20_22.pdf
7. https://www.uptech.team/blog/ai-medical-documentation#:~:text=Recent%20advancements%20in%20artificial%20intelligence,intervention%20when%20transcribing%20medical%20notes.
8. https://www.thoughtful.ai/blog/ai-in-healthcare-improving-accuracy-and-reducing-costs#:~:text=Reduced%20Errors%3A%20AI%20minimizes%20diagnostic,more%20accurate%20and%20personalized%20care.
9. https://www.dds.ca.gov/consumers/wellness-toolkit/direct-support-professionals/medication-safety/#:~:text=Follow%20the%20Seven%20Rights%20when,Right%20Reason%2C%20and%20Right%20Documentation.

 

Frequently Asked Questions: AI in Healthcare and Nursing:

 1. Will AI replace nursing jobs?

• Answer: No, AI is not intended to replace nursing jobs. Instead, it complements nursing by assisting with patient monitoring, data analysis, and administrative work. AI helps free up nurses' time for direct patient care and improves efficiency.

2. How can AI help nurses provide better care?

• Answer: AI can help nurses by providing real-time patient monitoring, detecting critical changes, and alerting staff before issues escalate. It also helps with predictive analytics, allowing nurses to anticipate potential health issues and make timely interventions.

3. Is AI reliable in-patient monitoring?

• Answer: Yes, AI-driven systems are highly reliable for real-time monitoring of vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. These systems can identify subtle trends that may not be immediately visible to human staff, allowing faster and more accurate responses.

4. What types of tasks can AI automate for nurses?

• Answer: AI can automate documentation, patient monitoring, appointment scheduling, and other administrative tasks. It can also assist with clinical tasks like analyzing patient data, recommending treatment plans, and ensuring compliance with care protocols.

5. How does AI prevent nurse burnout?

• Answer: AI helps reduce nurse burnout by improving staffing schedules through predictive analytics, automating time-consuming tasks like documentation, and reducing the cognitive load on nurses by providing data-driven insights for care decisions.

6. Can AI help prevent medical errors?

• Answer: Yes, AI-powered systems can significantly reduce medical errors by providing reminders for medication administration, checking for potential drug interactions, and offering alerts for critical patient data that may have been missed during manual monitoring.

7. What are the benefits of predictive analytics in nursing?

• Answer: Predictive analytics allows nurses and healthcare teams to foresee patient outcomes, predict readmissions, and identify at-risk patients early. This leads to more personalized care plans and proactive interventions that improve patient outcomes.

8. How is AI used in hospice and palliative care?

• Answer: AI can be used to monitor vital signs remotely, allowing patients to stay in the comfort of their homes while being closely monitored for changes in health. This is especially beneficial in hospice care, where quality of life and comfort are priorities.

9. Are there ethical concerns regarding AI in nursing?

• Answer: Yes, there are ethical concerns, particularly around patient privacy, data security, and the fear that AI could depersonalize care. However, AI is meant to assist, not replace, human judgment. As AI technology evolves, regulations are being developed to address these concerns.

10. How can nurses learn to work with AI?

• Answer: Nurses can familiarize themselves with AI by attending workshops, online courses, or in-house training programs that teach them how to use AI-powered tools. Understanding how AI works can help nurses see it as a tool to enhance their practice rather than a competition.

11. What are the challenges of implementing AI in healthcare?

• Answer: Some challenges include the cost of implementation, the need for proper training, and the potential resistance from healthcare staff who fear AI might take over their jobs or increase their workload instead of lightening it.

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article regarding AI in healthcare are those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect Scrub Pro Uniforms' official stance or opinions. Scrub Pro Uniforms is not responsible for the content or any reliance on the information provided about AI and its role in nursing.