You can lose precious minutes while walking between patients, equipment rooms, and computer stations. Walking to the nurses’ station to answer the phone can take up to 58 minutes each day.([FOOTNOTE=Turisco F, Rhoads, J. Equipped for Efficiency: Improving Nursing Care Through Technology. Published Dec. 2008. Accessed Jan. 29, 2018.],[ANCHOR=California Health Care Foundation Website],[LINK=https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PDF-EquippedForEfficiency.pdf]) Locating supplies, equipment, or staff can consume 10 percent of a clinician's shift.([FOOTNOTE=Tucker A, Heisler W, Janisse L. Organizational Factors that Contribute to Operational Failures in Hospitals. Published Sep. 4, 2013. Accessed Jan. 29, 2018.],[ANCHOR=Harvard Business School Website],[LINK=http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/14-023_f68586ef-ffd3-4147-8178-0053916c0af8.pdf])
Wireless patient monitoring and other solutions can help close the distance and recoup time.
In Morgantown, West Virginia, one hospital implemented an admission, discharge, and transfer system to reduce delays.
Before, a nurse dropped off a patient’s chart at the front desk, but the discharge wasn’t entered into the online system until later.
After installing touch-screens at multiple stations, nurses could update patient status immediately, requesting cleaning and transport services. The new system sped up the discharge process by 30 to 60 minutes.2