Feasibility of the Smart Excretion Care System tethered to Electronic Medical Records in a tertiary hospital and community care setting: A formative research study (Preprint)

Abstract

No studies have been conducted on smart devices that provide integrated nursing for patients' urinary & bowel elimination needs.

To evaluate the feasibility of a smart excretion care system tethered to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) in a tertiary hospital and community care setting and discuss the expectations of the reducing burden of nursing care.

Focus group interviews were conducted based on the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research Guidelines. The interviews were conducted in March, 2021, involving 67 participants who had worked at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital for more than one year and had experience assisting patients with excretion care. Data were collected using both purposive and snowball sampling methods.

This research found four themes relevant to the Smart Excretion Care System: expectations of reducing burdens of nursing care, applicable indications (by departments and diseases), preferred features/functions, and expected benefits of using the Smart Excretion Care system at the clinical facilities. Nurses from the Comprehensive Nursing Service wards were found to have the highest burden of excretion care. It was a common opinion that the Smart Excretion Care System would be very useful in the Intensive Care Unit, and it should be applied first to patients with stroke or dementia.

Excretion care is one of the most bothersome tasks for nurses that increase their workload. The further development of the Smart Excretion Care System, as a digital health intervention, can help improve nurses’work efficiency and reduce their burden as well as expand to caregivers and guardians.