The importance of technology in rounding

As a nurse at a company creating and implementing healthcare technologies, I have an understanding of how other nurses will use our products and why what we create is so important. When we created a rounding solution I immediately saw the value this could provide hospitals and how it could make rounding a more enjoyable experience for nurses.

There are more than a few reasons why rounding is a critical function for patients, their nurses and hospitals. Two words come quickly to the top of most lists: Safety and Satisfaction. Last summer I remember speaking with a nurse who serves as the director of patient experience at his 250-bed hospital. His story was not unlike many I have heard and experienced. He said they were rounding on everything and everyone, however they were using a paper and pencil process with many hours spent sporadically transferring then old data to spreadsheets. Their rounding was mostly inconsistent, and often less meaningful because they were unable to see trends within a time frame that would allow someone to take action and solve a problem. At the very best, they were reacting to issues and at the worst they were completely unaware of them.

When using a digital tool to enhance rounding, a few words come to mind as a way to amp up safety and satisfaction: Time, Technology, and Trends. Nurses are constantly juggling their time to attend to the myriad of multi-tasking demands that they are faced with. This was the first problem I felt that CipherRounds solved. A digital tool has the possibility to make data collection easy, accessible, and fun so that issues are collected and analyzed in real-time. Issues then become actionable at the exact moment they occur, and provides accountable resolutions. With a digital tool, you are able to see trends via customizable, pertinent, colorful dashboards and reports as they are developing. Guesswork is history.

Technology can be used as a tool to augment the process of people to people connection. It is not something to be hidden behind, but something that allows staff to shine and do what they want to do; make a difference for the populations they serve. Digital rounding enhances workflow, supports and improves communications between care providers and their patients, and makes a positive difference in outcomes. For these reasons I see the value and importance of using technology in a daily hospital function, such as rounding.

What makes CipherRounds special to me is that I have first-hand experience into why digital rounding is necessary, and the product I aid in creating truly meets those needs.

This post was written by our Account Executive, Laura Colburn BSN.

For more information on how technology can improve rounding please click here.

CipherHealth empowers providers across the care continuum to deliver enhanced patient experiences and communications through a modular, comprehensive patient engagement technology platform.