Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
ReviewThe Impact of Telenursing on Nursing Practice and Education: A Systematic Literature Review.
This systematic review aims to answer the following question: What is the impact of telenursing on nursing practice and education? Any article that was written in English and published in PubMed and Computers Informatics Nursing (CIN) journal from January 2012 to February 2016 discussing the impact of telenursing on nursing practice and education were included, while any opinion and review literature was excluded. The results show that there are four themes covered by the literature: 1. Impact of telenursing intervention using telephone and/ or videoconferencing on satisfaction and health outcomes; 2. ⋯ Training on telenursing. Articles on Intensive Care Unit telenursing were found to be the most covered specialty/area of nursing in using telenursing. More research is still needed to show the impact of telenursing on nursing education as well as other specialties of nursing practice.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialA Virtual Reality Game for Chronic Pain Management: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Study.
Although Virtual Reality (VR) applications have been shown to reduce many forms of acute pain, such research of VR applications and their effects on chronic pain is still at its infancy. In this study, we designed a VR game Cryoslide, and examined its analgesic effect on chronic pain patients, its end users, in a clinical setting. In this randomized, controlled crossover clinical study of 20 chronic pain patients, Cryoslide significantly reduced perceived pain compared to the baseline and the control group. The results demonstrate that Cryoslide can be effectively used as an analgesic intervention for chronic pain management to lessen pain intensity during short-term symptom spikes.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
Comparative Study Clinical TrialUsability Comparisons of Head-Mounted vs. Stereoscopic Desktop Displays in a Virtual Reality Environment with Pain Patients.
Researchers have shown that immersive Virtual Reality (VR) can serve as an unusually powerful pain control technique. However, research assessing the reported symptoms and negative effects of VR systems indicate that it is important to ascertain if these symptoms arise from the use of particular VR display devices, particularly for users who are deemed "at risk," such as chronic pain patients Moreover, these patients have specific and often complex needs and requirements, and because basic issues such as 'comfort' may trigger anxiety or panic attacks, it is important to examine basic questions of the feasibility of using VR displays. Therefore, this repeated-measured experiment was conducted with two VR displays: the Oculus Rift's head-mounted display (HMD) and Firsthand Technologies' immersive desktop display, DeepStream3D. ⋯ However, results also indicated other preferences of the two VR displays among patients, including physical comfort levels and a sense of immersion. Few studies have been conducted that compare usability of specific VR devices specifically with chronic pain patients using a therapeutic virtual environment in pain clinics. Thus, the results may help clinicians and researchers to choose the most appropriate VR displays for chronic pain patients and guide VR designers to enhance the usability of VR displays for long-term pain management interventions.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
ReviewHow Do Information and Communication Technologies Influence Nursing Care?
Despite the well-known advantages of information and communication technologies (ICTs), their overall impact on nursing care has not been synthesized. The objective of this overview of systematic reviews is to summarize the best evidence regarding the effects of ICTs on nursing care. We considered quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method reviews published since January 1995. ⋯ Three reviewers extracted and compared their data. Preliminary results show that the following dimensions of nursing care are the most frequently reported: assessment, care planning and evaluation, documentation time, quality of care and patient safety. This overview provides a starting point from which to compare and contrast findings of separate reviews regarding the positive, neutral and negative effects of ICTs on nursing care.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
Reducing Emergency Department Crowding: Evidence Based Strategies.
Emergency department (ED) crowding has become a major barrier to receiving timely care. King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Saudi Arabia worked on identifying evidence based strategies for reducing the ED crowding by improving the intake. ⋯ Technology improvements; include using informatics to update the electronic emergency record with information, using palmar scanning to instantly identify patients and using radio communication devices. Process improvements; include a scribe program to decrease clerical documentation tasks, switching between low flow and high flow processes, placing a physician in triage and using patient segmentation methods.