UNews - Mobile phones

Mobile app helping nursing students with clinical decision-making

trevor.kenney — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:42:39 +0000

A research project underway at Chinook Regional Hospital aims to determine if having medical information at the fingertips of student nurses improves their clinical decision-making at patient bedside.

During the 15-month study, which started last May, about 30 fourth-year nursing students from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will have an application installed on their mobile phones that contains a wealth of medical and nursing information.

Nursing student Tony Slezina says the app has been invaluable in his work with patients.

Researchers are comparing the clinical decision-making of these student nurses with other student nurses who do not have the app. Students without the app would typically leave the bedside and locate information in a medical textbook or, in the case of a medication issue, consult with the hospital pharmacist. All student nurses are under the supervision of registered nurses at the Alberta Health Services (AHS) hospital.

“The ability to make sound clinical decisions is vital to ensure patients receive safe, high-quality health care,” says study lead Dr. Monique Sedgwick, assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

“Health care is an information intensive environment. With this study, we’re trying to determine if clinical decision-making improves with immediate access to current, evidence-based information about patient diagnosis, treatment and nursing care.”

Dr. Sedgwick says nurses make clinical decisions every day that affect patient care. Common decisions include whether to change a bedridden patient’s position to prevent bedsores, whether to alert a physician if a patient’s condition is deteriorating, whether to change a patient’s medication, or determining what supports patients will need after leaving the hospital.

A patient who complains about pain post-surgery requires a nurse to make several clinical decisions at bedside, she adds.

“Nurses must assess the kind of pain the patient is experiencing,” says Dr. Sedgwick. “The nurse must take into consideration when the patient last had medications for the pain, whether the medication worked, whether there were side effects and whether the type of pain is typical following that particular type of surgery.

“Using information gathered from textbooks or the mobile app, nurses decide if the medication will be given, if another type of medication is more appropriate, how the medication will be given, how much medication will be given, or if medication is the most effective way to relieve the pain.”

The application used in this study was developed by the U.S.-based medical software firm Pepid, and contains as much information as would be found in multiple textbooks.

Nursing student Tony Slezina says the application has been a huge help during his work placement in the intensive care unit, allowing him to answer questions for patients and their families right at bedside.

“We can look things up on the app and say, ‘OK, yeah, we’re on the right course here,’ ” he says.

Adds Dr. Sedgwick: “Preliminary findings suggest the app helps students in their reasoning and clinical decision-making. That said, no conclusions can be drawn until the study concludes in July 2014.”

Chinook Regional Hospital is a teaching hospital where, each year, more than 600 nurses are trained along with numerous sub-specialties, internships and other clinical placements.

Site manager Ryan Thomson says he’s pleased the facility is contributing to this study.

“I can’t say enough about the partnership we have with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the unique opportunity to move research projects like this forward here in our own backyard,” says Thomson. “I am passionate about applied research that helps us grow and learn.”

The $10,000 study is funded by the Western North Western Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Teaching Fund.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.9 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.

E-mail server upgrade may affect you

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:40:11 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is in the process of upgrading its e-mail server for staff and faculty, which may mean users changing their account settings in order to send or receive e-mails.

Information Technology is moving the name webexchange.uleth.ca from the Exchange 2003 server to the Exchange 2010 server. Mobile phones, tablets and e-mail clients (Microsoft Outlook) will continue to function normally and you should not notice a disruption to the service.

Those who are PC users will also not be affected by this change. Mac users who are using Microsoft Entourage 2004 or Microsoft Entourage 2008 on Mac OS X will need to make a change in order to continue sending and receiving e-mail.

For step-by-step directions to making the required changes, follow this link.

For more information, please contact the IT Solutions Centre at 403-329-2490 or help@uleth.ca

Library's QR codes debut

trevor.kenney — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:22:12 +0000

As smart phones become more and more popular, so do the applications that make them so useful. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Library is catching on to this trend in a practical and useful way.

The library initially delved into this area by introducing its mobile website, which was the first of its kind on campus. Now, the IT folks have done it again: they've created scannable bar codes, known as QR codes, for students to book group workrooms on the spot with their mobile phones. Many future applications are also possible with this technology.

What exactly are QR (quick response) codes? These scannable codes contain all sorts of information, such as URLs or web links, videos, textual information, or any combination thereof. You may have already used them yourself if you've taken advantage of paperless boarding cards to board a flight, a service being offered by several airlines.

These codes can be read by 'scanning' them – basically taking a picture – with a smart phone such as an iPhone, Android, etc. The appropriate software application (downloaded from your phone's app store – available for free or a nominal fee) is also required.

The library has several useful applications for QR codes. The first is for group workrooms. Students now have the ability to check a room, while standing outside, to see if it's been booked, and if it hasn't, reserve it right on the spot. The second application is in the library catalogue, where each catalogue record has a unique QR code included in its display. When you scan the code into your phone, the location, call number, etc. of the item will be displayed on your smart phone, with no need to write down the information.

The Library is proud to once again lead the pack with this new technology. And with the popularity of smart phones on the rise, we can only assume there are more great things to come.

For a look at the full issue of the December Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Library's QR codes debut

trevor.kenney — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:19:35 +0000

The library initially delved into this area by introducing its mobile website (http://www.uleth.ca/lib/about_Us/display.asp?PageID=272), which was the first of its kind on campus. Now, the IT folks have done it again: they've created scannable bar codes, known as QR codes, for students to book group workrooms on the spot with their mobile phones. Many future applications are also possible with this technology.

The Library is proud to once again lead the pack with this new technology. And with the popularity of smart phones on the rise, we can only assume there are more great things to come.

For a look at the full issue of the December Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Mobile phones

Mobile app helping nursing students with clinical decision-making

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