Alexa, I need to go to the bathroom???

[drkshadez]

So what do folks think about this?

New Cedars-Sinai initiative illustrates how using Alexa technology can make healthcare easier

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

I'm all for technology that means I don't spend 30 minutes messing with a patient's TV to get it on the right channel and just loud enough for them. However, the sending of patient requests makes me nervous. This sounds like another opportunity to chastise me for not fulfilling my waitressing duties because I'm too caught up in nursing stuff. I don't trust that it wouldn't turn into some obnoxious method of monitoring my time management.

[TriciaJ, RN]

16 minutes ago, NightNerd said:

I'm all for technology that means I don't spend 30 minutes messing with a patient's TV to get it on the right channel and just loud enough for them. However, the sending of patient requests makes me nervous. This sounds like another opportunity to chastise me for not fulfilling my waitressing duties because I'm too caught up in nursing stuff. I don't trust that it wouldn't turn into some obnoxious method of monitoring my time management.

I didn't spend too much time messing with patients' TVs. If they were maintained in proper working order the patients could manage just fine. I do like the idea of "sending it up the chain of command" when requests aren't promptly responded to. Does that mean the NM is going to have to come and help someone to the restroom?

Otherwise, I can't see it doing anything that isn't done already. Patients already have an effective way to call their nurse. Response times are still going to be based on how busy the nurse already is. As far as providing "weather reports, sports reports" etc to cure loneliness and connect with the outside world, what does it add to the TV, newspaper, visitors and the patient's own laptop?

And the patients just love it? Is that because the survey options are A. I love this technology B. I love it a lot C. I really love it - ?

It's just the latest shiny thing for hospitals to waste piles of money on. How about an extra pair of hands and some break relief?

[beekee]

32 minutes ago, TriciaJ said:

It's just the latest shiny thing for hospitals to waste piles of money on. How about an extra pair of hands and some break relief?

But they freed up all that time spent on helping with the TV! (Seriously, If a patient can’t figure out a remote control, Alexa is NOT going to utilize less nurse time).

Instead of screaming NURSE NURSE NURSE, the little old lady with dementia will scream ALEXA ALEXA ALEXA all night?

[TriciaJ, RN]

17 minutes ago, beekee said:

Instead of screaming NURSE NURSE NURSE, the little old lady with dementia will scream ALEXA ALEXA ALEXA all night?

As long as the nurse's name isn't Alexa, it should be a whole lot less stressful.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

2 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

I didn't spend too much time messing with patients' TVs. If they were maintained in proper working order the patients could manage just fine. I do like the idea of "sending it up the chain of command" when requests aren't promptly responded to. Does that mean the NM is going to have to come and help someone to the restroom?

Otherwise, I can't see it doing anything that isn't done already. Patients already have an effective way to call their nurse. Response times are still going to be based on how busy the nurse already is. As far as providing "weather reports, sports reports" etc to cure loneliness and connect with the outside world, what does it add to the TV, newspaper, visitors and the patient's own laptop?

And the patients just love it? Is that because the survey options are A. I love this technology B. I love it a lot C. I really love it - ?

It's just the latest shiny thing for hospitals to waste piles of money on. How about an extra pair of hands and some break relief?

Hahaha, my unit has some pretty antiquated technology. I spend an unfortunate amount of time either troubleshooting why the TV is stuck on mute or helping very confused people who can't see the TV guide find their favorite channel. Let's put it this way: Alexa might be more of a help to me than the patient - but if we got more user-friendly remotes this could be a non-issue just as easily.

Rather than sending it up the chain of command, I think it would be useful to have patient requests be sent to a group of people right away. If call lights are everyone's responsibility to answer, this should be too. If the primary nurse or tech can't handle it right away, they can say so and ask someone else to step in and save the day. It wouldn't be the worst thing to have it go up the chain of command, but 1) that still leaves the patient waiting until someone can check their messages, and 2) if it gets to the manager, I can see some people being more like, "What are you doing that this request came to *me*?" than simply taking the opportunity to be helpful. I think this will be another way for hospitals to show off while finding more subtle ways to micromanage the nursing staff.

Good Lord, I am way too jaded for the relatively short time I've been a nurse.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

2 hours ago, beekee said:

But they freed up all that time spent on helping with the TV! (Seriously, If a patient can’t figure out a remote control, Alexa is NOT going to utilize less nurse time).

Instead of screaming NURSE NURSE NURSE, the little old lady with dementia will scream ALEXA ALEXA ALEXA all night?

Better Alexa than NightNerd.

[Daisy4RN]

This sounds like a horrible idea to me. Just more money wasted so the hospital can look good. This program would be abused and like Tricia stated nurses can still only be in one place at a time and will prioritize accordingly. There is no way that mgmt. is going to get involved to go fix a TV, give a med etc. but they will definitely use this against the nurse for bad customer service, bad time management etc. We had phones on tele unit for techs to call for "urgent" rhythms, then calling bc leads are off etc. they started calling Charge or NM (went up the chain) when nurses either were not answering or responding in a timely manner. So did NM go check pt, nope, just calling to tell nurses to go do it and scold for not already going and/or not answering. Also, what about privacy issues. Amazom/Google stores a lot of our data and use it for other purposes as well. Not a good idea, IMO, for a number of reasons!

[Daisy4RN]

5 hours ago, NightNerd said:

Good Lord, I am way too jaded for the relatively short time I've been a nurse.

Five years sounds about right to me, I am surprised it took that long, LOL

[Davey Do]

1 hour ago, Daisy4RN said:

We had phones on tele unit for techs to call for "urgent" rhythms, then calling bc leads are off etc. they started calling Charge or NM (went up the chain) when nurses either were not answering or responding in a timely manner. So did NM go check pt, nope, just calling to tell nurses to go do it and scold for not already going and/or not answering.

[Emergent, RN]

When patients ask me about the TV I answer that I don't know, I never watch TV at work. I tell them to start at channel 03 and press the up button to channel surf.

[Forest2]

9 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

As long as the nurse's name isn't Alexa, it should be a whole lot less stressful.

That is why you give dementia patients the name of the other nurse, not your own name.?