The Turku University Hospital’s Neurocenter makes versatile use of smartphones in nursing
Smartphones are a mundane part of our daily lives, but they can also be put to versatile use in nursing. Examples can be found in Turku University Hospital’s Neurocenter, which has used smartphones and the Medanets app to help in nursing for a long time now. In particular, the Medanets Medication solution has significantly improved the work of nurses and helped to ensure patient safety.
The Medication solution has been revolutionary for nurses’ daily lives
The Turku University Hospital (Tyks) has used the Medanets app since 2015, when the use of smartphones was not yet common in hospitals. In fact, Tyks was the first university hospital to adopt Medanets’ solutions. They were well received from the very beginning, as the app’s standardised language and adaptable features made nursing documentation smoother than before. Now, the solutions used by the hospital are Observation Values, EWS, Monitored Patients and Medication.
The Medication solution in particular has made revolutionary changes to nurses’ daily lives. Previously, no medication administration entries were documented due to the awkwardness of the medication program, but now, medication administration entries can be made through the Medanets app. Patients’ medication data follows the nurses throughout their shift, and the available information is up to date. The Medication solution helps to ensure patient safety.
Many uses for phones in nursing
Smartphones are handy in nurses’ work in other ways, too. At the Turku University Hospital, nurses make use of the versatile phones in their pockets. In addition to using the Medanets app, phones can naturally be used for making calls and using many other apps which support nursing.
TYKS uses, for example, Monidor’s Monidrop solution, through which nurses can check a patient’s infusion drip rate and volume on their phones when they are not by the patient’s bedside. A Finnish-Swedish phrase dictionary has also been built into the smartphone, which has proved to be particularly useful in bilingual Turku when a nurse or doctor has needed to find the right term or phrase in Swedish.
Mobile solutions’ centralised management ensures uniform operating methods
The management of the smartphones and the apps on them has been centralised to the hospital’s IT services. Access to apps which do not belong at work, such as social media, have been completely blocked. Thanks to the centralised management, the phones can also be located and switched out quickly in the case of problems.
The features and benefits relating to the use of phones have led to important results: time has been saved, patient safety is seen to have been improved, and the time spent with patients has increased.
Sources: Riitta Danielsson-Ojala, Turku University Hospital, Neurocenter, Medanets’ User Days 2023 presentation
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