Upon the completion of our pilot study using AeroScout sensors in the NICU, we sent a survey to the clinicians involved to gather their feedback about the technology. We were very happy with the compliance we received in terms of wearing the tracking sensors for the duration of the study. According to the survey, all clinicians except one wore the sensors for the trial’s entirety. In order to ensure every clinician participating in the study was wearing a sensor for his or her entire shift, we monitored the hand offs of sensors between clinicians as well as watched the system to ensure the sensors were not in a stationary location for an extended period of time. If a sensor did not move for a long period, this could potentially indicate that a sensor was sitting on a desk or in a drawer instead of moving with a clinician.
We also gathered feedback regarding the practicality of the sensors in the Vanderbilt NICU. In particular, we asked if the sensors got in the way of each clinician’s daily workflow. All clinicians participating in the study reported that the tag did not get in the way. One charge nurse did mention that the tag could be a lot to keep up with when considering the other pagers and phones she must keep on her person daily.
Another goal of our survey was to determine the best way to meet the needs of every member of the NICU. We have been talking extensively with our liaison Dr. Walsh. Therefore, we know what aspects would best meet his needs. However, we needed feedback from other clinicians as well. We recognize that different roles in the NICU have different needs, making certain aspects of the technology more or less helpful based on the position. Nearly every staff member who participated in the study said tracking locations of physicians would not be helpful to their daily workflow. However, Dr. Walsh suggested we track physicians because it would help him as the head of the neonatology ward since he needs to locate all of his teams throughout the day. Fortunately, almost every clinician surveyed said a system to locate key pieces of equipment would make the operation of the NICU more efficient. In terms of providing a display system with baby location and shift details, feedback was somewhat mixed but leaned towards being more helpful than not and definitely more helpful than locating physicians. However, we did not give extensive details on what our system would do. Therefore, we think some hesitation may be due to a lack of understanding what all this system could provide and illustrate.
With any implementation of new technology in a regimented environment, there comes some resistance. There were a few comments given in the survey regarding the privacy and the feeling that this system would be like “Big Brother.” We are addressing privacy concerns in our Systems Requirement Document.
Using the information from the survey and our pilot study, our next deliverable is to update the current process chart used in the NICU to include the capabilities of MobileView. We are also working on our Systems Requirement Document to illustrate the ideal real-time display system for the Vanderbilt NICU’s unmet needs.