BACKGROUND:Communication between clinicians is hampered by the frequent difficulty in reaching the most responsible physician for a patient as well as the use of outdated methods such as numeric paging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of smartphones to improve communication on internal medicine wards.METHOD:At the Toronto General Hospital, residents were provided with smartphones. To simplify reaching the most responsible resident for a patient, a smartphone designated as “Team BlackBerry” was also carried by each senior resident and then passed to the resident covering the team at night and on weekends. Nurses were able to send email messages or call smartphones directly.RESULTS:There were on average of 9.1 incoming calls, 6.6 outgoing calls, 14.3 received emails, and 2.8 sent emails per day to each Team BlackBerry. Team BlackBerrys received up to 35 calls and 57 emails per day. Residents strongly preferred the smartphones over conventional paging with perceived improvements in all items measured and felt that it improved efficiency and communication. Although nurses perceived a reduction in the time required to contact a physician (27.6 vs. 11 minutes P < 0.001), their overall satisfaction with physician's response time for urgent issues did not improve significantly.DISCUSSION:When smartphones were used for clinical communication, residents perceived an improvement in communication with them. Residents strongly preferred emails as opposed to telephone calls as the prime method of communication. Further objective evaluation is necessary to determine if this intervention improves efficiency and more importantly, quality of care. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2010. © 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Background The severity of the COVID-19 health crisis has placed acute care nurses in dire work environments in which they have had to deal with uncertainty, loss, and death on a constant basis. It is necessary to gain a better understanding of nurses’ experiences to develop interventions supportive of their emotional well-being. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how nurses are emotionally affected working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments. The research question is: What is the emotional experience of nurses working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments? Methods We employed a narrative methodology that focused on participants’ stories. Twenty registered nurses, who worked in six hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, participated in interviews. A narrative analysis was conducted with a focus on content and form of stories. Results We identified three themes about working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments: the emotional experience, the agency of emotions, and how emotions shape nursing and practice. Conclusion In moving forth with pandemic preparations, healthcare leaders and governments need to make sure that a nurse’s sacrifice is not all-encompassing. Supporting nurses’ emotional well-being and resilience is necessary to counterbalance the loss and trauma nurses go through.

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Background: Working on the frontlines of hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging and distressing for nurses. The troublesome nature of these emotions have surfaced because of uncharted territory related to this virus, compromised work conditions, unfavourable patient outcomes, and the witnessing of suffering and loss. Although there has been renewed emphasis on how to emotionally support nurses, the nature of support needed is somewhat unknown considering that healthcare professionals have not experienced a pandemic of this magnitude in their lifetime. Aim: We explored how nurses were emotionally supported and how they can be better supported while working in COVID-19 acute care hospital environments. Methods: In this narrative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 registered nurses working in hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area and working on units caring for COVID-19+ patients. Results and Conclusions: Our findings reflected the organic emergence of support, intentional forms of support, and the social justice nature of support. It is important for hospital and government leaders to employ a multifold approach to emotionally support nurses. These supports include information transparency, visible presence of leadership, and recognition of nurses’ contributions. While emotionally supporting nurses, these types of resources can act as “little lights in this dark tunnel” of COVID-19 and illuminate a path forward. Implications: Some strategies relevant to clinical practice include regular rounding of units by leaders, and transparent communication about information and resources. Other strategies are on-site psychological support and legitimate support of mental health sick days as well as lobbying governments for financial compensation for the risky work involved in being a frontline provider and appropriate provision of personal protective equipment.