Burden of New Healthcare Technology Falls to Nursing Staff

• New healthcare technology optimizes patient outcomes, expands access to care, and reduces healthcare costs. Yet the burden of utilization always falls to the nursing staff.  
• The stress of learning and properly using new equipment is felt by many in the profession. 
• Clinical technology teams are one approach to lessen the new technology fatigue many nurses are experiencing. 

Alarm fatigue in nursing is a well-known topic. But what’s even more important to highlight is the expanding expectation for nurses to learn new clinical technology and the fatigue of bearing that responsibility for the organization. New technology is important in healthcare because it optimizes patient outcomes, expands access to care, and reduces healthcare costs. Yet the burden of utilization is always the nursing staff.  

Healthcare Technology Drives Patient Care 

Nurses are expected to constantly learn new technology, stay aware of updates in standard procedures, and troubleshoot equipment problems. Think about it — nearly everything in a healthcare setting is technology driven.  

The way we communicate with patients using smartphone apps and emails notifications for appointment reminders, lab results, and, of course, billing. Nurses encounter smart beds, monitors, TVs, IV pumps, electronic health records, virtual patient monitoring, virtual interpreting services, iPads, barcode scanners, medication dispensing systems, online scheduling, and more. We’re expected to learn new technology systems in a variety of quick lessons, including self-guided education, online modules, one-hour hands-on sessions, during the five-minute, start-of-shift huddle, breakroom flyers with QR codes, etc.  

I’ve even experienced new equipment showi up on a unit and being tasked by my manager to “figure it out” then teach the other RNs. I specifically was up for that challenge, but many nurses aren’t tech-savvy or interested in being the go-to person for new technology. This won’t go away anytime soon because advancing clinical technology is the future of healthcare. And we need to highlight and understand the new fatigue and burden for nurses adapting to constant technology change.  

I once heard an informatics director compare Apple iPhone operating system updates to new clinical technology changes in nursing. At first, I thought he was right. Our culture is to assume we can adapt to updates and new technology with no issues and without really “learning” the changes. But the more I thought about just how many new technologies a nurse has to learn even in a week or months’ timeframe, I found the expectation of quick learning and immediate use pretty alarming. The stress of learning (and properly using) new equipment is felt by many in the profession. 

Helping Nurses Manage New Healthcare Technology

If new technology is the way of the future, how can healthcare organizations help nurses adapt and, at the same time, reduce the burden of new technology fatigue?  

Let’s walk through a few suggestions: 

Establish a clinical technology team 

The purpose of a devoted clinical technology team is to develop, organize, train, and provide go-live support for the technology equipment nurses use. This team would provide clinical education guidance and support to technologies affecting staff workflow, regulatory tracking standards, patient safety, and user experience. Bridging the gap between the continuous advancement in clinical technology equipment and the staff who use it.  

For example, if a system is rolling out new beside monitors, the clinical technology team would provide advanced education from the vendor and organization-developed material such as videos or tip sheets. When the new product goes live, the clinical technology team would provide elbow-to-elbow site support for troubleshooting, technical issues, or optimization suggestions. This increases the visibility of new technology and the confidence of using new equipment with a designated support team on hand. 

Provide paid routine education hours 

Routine paid education time can include devoted hands-on training for equipment and online accessible training material. Additionally, devoted education provides the opportunity for leadership to communicate upcoming technology changes to staff. This also allows time for transparency and a proper “heads up” notice of new equipment. Staff then have time to learn, ask questions, and provide constructive feedback on utilization of new technology products.  

Understandably, organizations routinely go through new contracts with vendors to promote the best care and cut costs for the organization. Therefore, staff should be routinely educated and timely informed of those known changes in advance. 

Incorporate subject matter experts and super users to provide on-unit support 

Bolstering the use of subject matter experts (SMEs) or super users for equipment can again provide extra education and peer training support on-site for staff. Having confident SMEs throughout the healthcare setting would promote safe use of new technology equipment. Learning from trusted peers helps teamwork and camaraderie. SMEs can be a safe avenue for staff to be able to relay problems or inefficiencies back to leadership.  

The Bottom Line

The trend of assuming nurses should be able to continuously adapt and informally learn new clinical technology could lead to poor patient outcomes, dissatisfied staff, and medical mistakes just like alarm fatigue.  

Organizations and regulatory bodies should acknowledge the struggles nurses face with continuously learning new clinical technology, and build a support network to facilitate proper education, training, and use of new equipment. Reducing the fatigue surrounding the burden of learning new clinical technology can help nurses focus on promoting and restoring health, preventing illness, and providing care to patients and our community. 

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