Dr Christian Rowan MP, the State Member for Moggill, has said technology is critical in providing nurses more time with patients in order to achieve better clinical outcomes.
“There is a lot of talk about increasing nurse numbers on wards, but to date the Palaszczuk Labor Government has failed to provide any evidence to substantiate its nurse-patient ratio formula,” Dr Rowan said.
“If we are living in the 21st century we need to look at how we best use technology to provide help and assistance for nurses and doctors with the challenges they face in getting people better and back home.”
In July 2014 Deloitte Access Economics reviewed a bedside touch-screen unit developed by Smart Ward to enter in patient data and reduce the amount of paperwork nurses were required to deal with.
The report by Deloitte indicated: “nurses increased the portion of time spent
at patient’s bedsides from 32.8 per cent to 48.1 per cent and increased the
amount of time they spent interacting with patients from 7.9 per cent to 23.6
per cent.”
Further, the report highlighted that “the system was likely to increase their
‘nurses’ job satisfaction by enabling them to interact with patients more and
allow them to focus on high-value activities.”
Dr Rowan said the need for nurses in Queensland’s hospital system was growing daily.
“However, using electronic devices to assist in reducing the burden of nurses dealing with paperwork and allowing better and quicker change-over at the end of shifts means more time with patients, thus better outcomes,” he said.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government needs to start considering technology of this nature.
“It’s simply not good enough to work in the 19th century when 21st century technology exists that is available to help patients and their families.
“It is time for Queensland to start moving forward and this form of technology must be investigated to see how beneficial it will be for all concerned.”
