Ruts. We all get in them and it can be hard to break out of them. Part of being in a rut is doing things they way they’ve always been done. Isn't it true that one of the most maddening phenomena we encountered as new nurses may well be descriptive of our own repertoires now? Despite our CME pursuits, retracing old patterns is a coping mechanism many nurses use. 

And it’s understandable — the day-to-day rigors of our jobs demand so much mental brain power it can be unfathomable to learn about—let alone incorporate—anything new. Still. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and the medical world has seen a lion’s share of these leaps and bounds. 

The Sars-CoV-2 Pandemic of 2020 accelerated this trajectory even more, particularly in the virtual medicine world. If you feel you’ve been left behind the curve, we’ve compiled a list of the coolest and most accessible technologies available now, and a few just on the horizon beyond. 

The new speed of RPM 

Get ready to update your acronyms—RPM stands for Remote Patient Monitoring, and its use is more prevalent than ever before. Whereas the request to use telemedicine devices used to feel like the equivalent of rolling in a TV from the high school tech closet for movies days of yesteryear, that is not the case any more. Tablets, video-capture devices and assessment-inputting tools have all joined us here in the 21st century, thankfully, requiring far less frustration-induced tinkering than they once did. 

Their impact is extremely powerful. And not just for hospitalized patients. Patients in rural locations are being better served, able to input vital signs, finger stick lab values like blood sugars, and other basic health parameters remotely. This open line of communication keeps treatment windows active, with the hopes of less patients falling through the cracks.

RPM also permits access to specialists in real time. What can be an immensely frustrating aspect of discharge planning is the large gaps in follow-up care. Hospitalized patients are now able to have virtual consultations with specialty care providers without going through the discharge—>referral—>appointment waiting-time loop. Connecting patients to providers virtually reworks many of these frameworks, even if lags in insurance and billing practices remain woefully behind the technology to do so. 

Lastly, advances in digital health-monitoring devices built into our smart phones and watches make healthcare even more top-of-mind for our patients. As nurses, any degree of heightened  autonomy we can assist our patients with in taking charge of their own health is the always the ultimate goal. Educating them about available apps, gadgets, and even health monitoring websites where they begin to incorporate health-monitoring as a daily habit—instead of a once or twice a year check-up—will go a long way towards catching slipping downward trends. 

The robots are coming (to help!)

Chances are your nursing news feed was jam-packed with the futuristic health advances made in the past year. As social-distancing practices became necessary even at the bedside to care for COVID patients in the absence of reliable PPE, images of vital sign bots rolling the halls, remotely dispensing medication, and room disinfection from afar all included the use of robotics. 

While some nurses viewed these newcomers warily as potential job-replacers, in truth, robotics has the potential to free up nurses for more critical and patient-centered roles. (One exciting use of robotics that any nurse can get behind is the development of “Robear”—an AI robot bear (yes, really!) that can lift, turn, and otherwise aid in the mobility needs of bed-bound patients. Can’t you just feel your back heaving a sign of relief at the thought?)

Another exciting use of robotics has blended with AI to produce “chatbots.” You’re probably familiar with this concept if you’ve ever seen these little bouncing pop-ups at the bottom of any company’s website, cheerfully offering messaging assistance and trouble-shooting. Well, just imagine their use in an inpatient-care setting, perhaps as your call-bell answering side kick? For all those “I just have one quick question for my nurse,” moments, a virtual bedside chatbot nurse could easily be employed as an education super tool, perhaps even providing a little distraction and companionship from the monotony of days spent staring at the same 4 walls that many patients must endure. 

The takeaway

Technology advances can be overwhelming. We’ve only just scratched the surface here, and probably, at the time you are reading this, even more advances have been made on what we’ve discussed. Yes, the pace of innovation is intense, but who better to keep up than the ones who’ve been running alongside our patients all along? What will always be true is the power that comes from human touch, empathy, and compassion. No amount of glitzy technology can ever replace that. That being said, healthcare field disruptors are only going to magnify in the decades to come. Nurses will do well to embrace these changes as the opportunity they are—a chance to to be a part of this exciting living history in real time.