10-Point Checklist: Deploying Shared Devices for Nurses

Below is a summary of an article published in Becker’s Hospital Review, with some additional content from the PerfectServe editorial team.¹

In a survey, 72% of respondents reported using a program that provides nurses with mobile devices. That number will no doubt increase as time goes on and technology advances.

Smartphones equip nurses and other clinical staff with always-available communication and clinical applications that help speed up care delivery. By having this technology at their fingertips, nurses can more easily communicate with other care team members to provide high-quality patient care. 

Mobile devices for nurses must be rigorously tested and validated. Purchasing the wrong devices for thousands of team members without testing them in real life can have disastrous consequences.

On the other hand, choosing the right devices can launch an integrated delivery network for care team collaboration and quality patient care.

Phones for Nurses: 10-Point Deployment Checklist

Here is a 10-point checklist of best practices for planning and implementing a mobile device strategy for nursing teams:

Consider Nurse Device Usability

Make sure the devices you put in your nurses’ hands are well received. Form factor, battery life, and performance all play into device acceptance. Any shortcomings can negatively impact adoption.

Verify Device and Application Compatibility

The most obvious application to consider is the mobile app for your EHR, but there are other apps you should test as well. Create a role-by-role application inventory to guide your app testing.

Consider Device Durability in Three Key Areas

• 1) Drop Endurance: Only consider devices that pass repeated four-foot drops.
• 2) Liquid Tolerance: Whether it be a sink, toilet, or any other liquid landing, care team devices need to survive getting wet to function reliably.
• 3) Sanitization Survival: Good infection control practices require regular device disinfection. How well will the devices handle your facility’s sanitizing agents?

Test Device Reliability with Wireless Networks

Not all devices seamlessly transition between wireless access points throughout a hospital. As more access points are added to improve coverage, the frequency of network issues may increase, which is one of the most common contributors to device failures.

Validate Voice Quality

In most cases, the device is used primarily as a phone. Test the device’s voice quality when paired with your wireless network and PBX.

Ensure Device Operating System Security

Note the operating system shipped with the device and future plans for its lifecycle. Specifically, ensure the device will always run an operating system that continues to receive security patches from the vendor. This means avoiding an end-of-life operating system.

Purchase During the First Half of the Device Life Cycle

Make sure the devices you deploy have enough horsepower to last at least three years. Purchasing devices early in the lifecycle will help maximize usable life. Purchasing too late in the life cycle leads to performance complaints long before the devices are planned to retire.

Plan Organizational Protocols Before Deployment

Change can be hard, but a thoughtful plan makes all the difference. Carefully consider your training program, communication plan, and your “change champions” to help evangelize the update.

Consider Device Manageability

Use a mobile device management (MDM) solution to deploy and manage your devices. If you don’t currently have one, bundle your MDM decision with device selection. Do not try to deploy devices enterprise-wide without an MDM.

Pilot Device in Real-World Situations

Proper device evaluation goes beyond hands-on sessions in training rooms. Once you’ve narrowed your devices down to a short list, test them in the environments where they’ll be used. Most clinical users move around a lot. Plan to have care team members in various roles use the devices in their everyday workflows to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Click the image below to download this list for future reference.

The Benefits of Smartphones for Nurses

If it’s not obvious already, deploying smartphones for nurses in large numbers is not something that will happen overnight—at least, not if you want to do it right. But it’s important to remember the plethora of long-term benefits your organization, your nurses, and your patients are likely to experience:

• Deploying smartphones for nurses can significantly enhance healthcare delivery by improving communication, streamlining workflows, and increasing access to critical information.
• Smartphones enable real-time communication between nurses and other healthcare team members, reducing delays in patient care and ensuring that vital information is shared promptly.
• Smartphones equipped with clinical applications allow nurses to access patient records, medication information, and other essential resources at the bedside, which can lead to more informed and timely decision-making.
• The immediacy and accessibility that smartphones provide not only improve the efficiency of nursing workflows, but also enhance the overall patient experience by reducing wait times and improving care coordination.

Selecting the right smartphone for nurses and following these guidelines for device deployment can help you to properly support nurse collaboration. To explore how an integrated clinical communication solution can complete and enhance your device strategy, click below for a comprehensive PerfectServe demo.

Resources:

1. Getting it right: 10-point checklist for mobile devices and testing in nursing, Becker’s Hospital Review, 2018: beckershospitalreview.com/quality/getting-it-right-10-point-checklist-for-mobile-devices-and-testing-in-nursing.html