A.I. In Medicine
WORCESTER MEDICINE
The Quest for Childhood Injury PreventionEmbodied in Safety Quest Continued country of Spain with using Virtual Reality instead of the hands-on model we had previously developed. After a couple years planning and developing, we brought the new Safety Quest program to 5th grade classrooms this September 2023. As of October 1, over 900 students have already participated in the innovative, new program. The UMMH Injury Prevention team, the UMMH Office of Philanthropy, Fundación MAPFRE representatives, and CTP Boston met regularly to develop curriculum, map out the RV, and work on all the thousands of details that it takes to create a program like this one. We landed on 4 different games. 1.) Escape Artist: With young experts guiding students on a fire education journey, students are quizzed on safe behaviors in the event of a home fire and are then put to the test in this virtual experience, asked to show what they would do to escape a fire. 2.) Street Smarts: Young people learn the importance of paying attention to their surroundings when traveling the streets. On touchscreen tablets, students adopt an animated character who will make their way around a neighborhood by foot and by bicycle. They gain points by avoiding obstacles and making safe choices. 3.) Home Hazard Hunt: This gesture-based game is the signature experience of Safety Quest. Students spend time in the house and outside in the playground and pool area, identifying potential hazards. They will earn points for all the dangers they find. 4.) Look Both Ways Charades: In this game, students are tasked with acting out or describing words revolving around water, home, fire, and road safety. This game takes place outside the vehicle but is designed to spark conversation and keep the students engaged. We are planning to test a cohort of students before and after their visit to Safety Quest and 6 months later to establish the efficacy of virtual reality in this type of education. “I wanted to reach out and thank you for bringing Safety Quest to our students,” said School Resource Officer Tracy Flagg of Winchendon, MA. “I received great feedback from staff and students. It was fun to watch the students participate.” + Michael Hirsh, MD, Director of the Injury Prevention Program at UMMHC and the Medical Director for the Worcester division of Public Health
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Artificial Intelligence in Nursing Cynthia Delmas, RN
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rtificial Intelligence (AI) combines electronic data collection and robust datasets to give machines the capability to process information. In this article I’ll discuss how AI can facilitate health care management (patient monitoring, wound care), specific nursing care (post-anesthesia care, clinical decision support, medication management), communication with the health care team (electronic medical record (EMR) data, timely communication, patient handoffs), and support for nursing scheduling and management. AI: Facilitating health care management There are several wearable devices that can monitor ECGs, heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation and detect arrhythmias. The Abbott Confirm Rx Insertable Cardiac Monitor, for example, can detect abnormal heart rhythms and recognize and analyze these rhythms, leading to quicker recognition of the need for patients to access care for further evaluation and treatment [1]. Nurses play an important role in facilitating the use of these devices and in teaching patients how to utilize the data to better care for themselves. AI can help with wound care using specialized image capture, analyzing the images, and noting characteristics such as tissue type, color, depth, and size. An automated analysis allows for standardized and objective measurement, allowing nurses to track a patient’s wound healing accurately. The AI-powered tool, Vac Veriflow Therapy System, identifies early signs of infection, delayed healing, tracks the healing process, and gives real-time feedback to the nurse [2]. This particular AI-powered tool combines negative pressure wound therapy with AI-powered wound assessment, allowing the nurse to make informed decisions and tailor treatment plans accordingly. AI: Enhancing decision-making and timeliness of nursing care AI can improve post-anesthesia care. AI-powered monitoring systems with advanced algorithms continually assess and analyze vital signs, ensuring early detection of complications and changes in the patient’s condition. The Early Sense sensor is placed underneath a patient’s mattress to monitor respiratory rate, heart rate, and movement [3]. This system continually analyzes data and notifies the nurse of any significant changes or signs of distress. AI can use predictive analysis to identify risk factors and effectively detect the probability of post-operative infections. This information allows the nurse to respond proactively and monitor for high-risk situations, improving patient safety and outcomes. AI has the ability to aid clinical decision-making as algorithms can analyze patient data and make evidence-based recommendations to nurses in real-time. The data comes from medical records, lab results, imaging studies, pathology reports, genetic profiles, and medical literature. The results generate tailored treatment options that nurses can consider. These recommendations do not replace nurse decision-making and judgment but can decrease the time required to put nursing plans into action [4]. AI algorithms can improve medication management by reconciling medication lists; flagging inconsistencies, duplicate and conflicting drug orders, and medication errors. The algorithm alerts the nurse to issues
Winter 2023
