News Feature | January 20, 2016

Tele-ICU Tools Must-Have For Nurses

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Nurse Fired Posting ER Photos

Three of four nurses surveyed said the use of tele-ICU tools improved care and helped them do their jobs more effectively.

The results of a survey published by the American Journal of Critical Care show the majority of nurses feel tele-ICU tools help improve care and aid them in completing their jobs more efficiently.

Seventy-five percent of the more than 1,200 ICU nurses surveyed found the tools to be valuable and improved care. iHealth Beat notes that the survey also showed:

  • 65.9 percent of respondents said tele-ICU tools improve collaboration
  • 63.6 percent said the tools improve job performance
  • 63 percent said the tools help them to complete tasks more quickly
  • 60.4 percent said the tools improve communication
  • 60 percent said the tools are useful in nursing assessments
  • 45.6 percent said the tools improve care by providing more time for patient care

“The majority of participants thought that tele-ICUs enhanced patient care, improved productivity and collaboration and made their job easier,” said lead author Ruth Kleinpell, RN, PhD, APRN-BC, CCRN, director of the Center for Clinical Research at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and a professor at Rush University College of Nursing in an announcement. “This growing subspecialty of critical care nursing has tremendous potential to affect patients, patients' families and the entire healthcare team.”

Fierce Health IT explains that, although may consider this technology helpful, there are still barriers to further adoption. For instance, some staff see telemedicine as an interference and employee attitude is a major factor.

“The findings can be used to further inform the development of competencies for tele-intensive care nursing, match the tele-intensive care nursing practice guidelines of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and highlight concepts related to the association's standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments,” the report's authors wrote.