“To Have One Extra Eye”: Exploring Professionals’ Experiences with Digital Supervision in a Nursing Home for Older People

TL;DR

This study explores how healthcare professionals in a nursing home experience using a digital supervision system to improve patient safety and work processes.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the practical experiences and impacts of digital supervision systems in nursing home settings.

Findings

Digital supervision introduced an 'extra eye' that influenced work processes and patient safety.

The system altered professionals' workflows and introduced technical challenges.

Digital supervision helped prevent falls and allowed more time for resident engagement.

Abstract

The global increase in the older population and challenges in recruiting healthcare professionals to nursing homes necessitate innovative approaches to ensuring safe healthcare delivery.

To explore and describe healthcare professionalś experiences with a digital supervision system in a nursing home setting.

Qualitative research design.

Data were collected from 28 professionals in one nursing home through seven focus group interviews and three individual interviews and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

The findings revealed one overarching theme: having an extra eye, which influenced work processes and patient safety. Two subthemes emerged: (1) experiences of a changed environment and stress, and (2) experiences of managing technical challenges. The digital supervision system altered professionals’ workflows, impacting both professionals and resident environments while also introducing technical difficulties. Overall, having “one extra eye” through the phone in the pocket assisted professionals in monitoring their work, and observing changes among residents contributing to an improved professional and resident's environment and preventing falls.

This study enhances the understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with digital supervision in a nursing home. The healthcare team continued to conduct risk assessments as before, and nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists prescribed physical supervision as usual. The digital supervision system allowed professionals more time to engage in other activities with residents during the day. Being able to notice changes in residents, along with personalized alarm settings for digital supervision, may help prevent falls while still protecting residents’ independence, physical abilities, and privacy in their apartments.

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