5 Ways to Combat Nurse Burnout and Improve Communication with RTLS

April 11, 2019

Nurses everywhere are exhausted, especially those working in acute care. A recent study showed that 63% of nurses have experienced job burnout, and 41% have considered changing hospitals in the past year because of feeling burned out. Nearly half of nurses reported worrying that their patient care would suffer because they are so tired.

Nurse burnout results from constant emotional and physical stress caused by increasing workloads, workplace violence, interpersonal conflict (with both patients and colleagues) and physical exhaustion. From walking several miles each shift to dealing with the psychological burden of frustrated and potentially violent patients, it’s easy to see why nurses are depleted. 

To combat burnout and turnover, hospitals must focus on their nursing team’s wellbeing and productivity. Real-time locating system (RTLS) technology helps nurses improve communication, which is at the root of many sources of stress. Alleviating stress also allows nurses to focus on what matters most—providing an excellent patient experience. 

Here are five simple ways that RTLS can help improve communication and combat nurse burnout in your hospital: 

1. Automate nurse call systems to focus immediately on patient care. Typically, a nurse would enter the room and press the button by the head of the patient’s bed to clear a patient call, usually having to lean over the patient, equipment or other obstacles to reach it. With RTLS, a nurse wearing a badge can walk into a room and the call clears automatically, allowing the nurse to focus immediately on the patient. 
2. Find colleagues at a glance for easier communication. When nurses know where their colleagues are, it eliminates extra steps, extra overhead noise and additional stress. RTLS provides real-time visibility into the locations of colleagues. 
3. Provide a way to call for help in case of emergency. RTLS allows staff to call for help by pressing the mobile panic button on their badge. This simple yet powerful feature gives staff peace of mind. If they find themselves in an emergency, they can request assistance quickly and easily.
4. Ensure equipment is in the right place, at the right time for patient care. RTLS can also be used to immediately locate mobile medical equipment by glancing at RTLS software on a workstation computer. Hospitals can also take the next step with periodic automatic replenishment (PAR), so that nurses no longer need to hide equipment away to ensure accessibility. With help from the intelligent replenishment alerts provided by RTLS, equipment can be placed where it’s needed, when it’s needed, with no searching necessary.
5. Track valuable metrics to improve team efficiency and processes. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. RTLS works in the background to collect valuable data about your hospital’s day-to-day operations, which you can use to make decisions about staffing, emergency response initiatives and overall process improvement.

Download our eBook  10 Reasons Why RTLS Makes Sense for Healthcare to discover other ways that RTLS can transform the healthcare environment.