Adapting nursing education and practice in a post-pandemic, technology-dependent world

Can AI help reduce nurse burnout? What role should nurses play in regulatory conversations? How do clinical training programs incorporate tech literacy into curriculum?

Join a panel of three incredible nursing leaders and technology champions to get answers to these questions and more about the future of nursing! We are honored to welcome new voices to the blog—Kathleen McGrow DNP, MS, RN, PMP, FHIMSS, FAAN, Chief Nursing Information Officer at Microsoft and Becky Fox, MSN, NI-BC, Chief Clinical Information Officer at Intermountain Health—and reconnect with Brian Norris, MBA, RN, FHIMSS, VP and Managing Director of Strategic Consulting here at MedeAnalytics.

Let’s get into the conversation!

Caryn Tomer: How is technology shifting the way nurses approach clinical care and changing the considerations they have to make on a daily basis?

Becky Fox: Technology has really expanded very rapidly, which is exciting sometimes—and is sometimes a little scary. Everything from generative AI, ambient listening, and new technologies with data analytics has the potential to help nurses make better decisions, so that’s what we’re really excited about. Kathleen and I talk often about how and when we can adapt workflow to get details and assessment information from the patient in a different way, so the nurse spends less time repeating questions and more time building trust and planning care.

Kathleen McGrow: We really do discuss this frequently! Building on Becky’s thoughts, I want to note as well thatwe’re seeing the impact of tech across more than just the medical records. Actual clinical interventions—i.e. pumps or ventilators—are being affected by technological growth. Computerization and automation are built into many of the devices that clinical providers are using daily. Despite the efficiency this can provide, it can also add complexity as staff attempt to revise their workflow and priorities to match the times.

A key responsibility of leaders in the healthcare space is equipping nurses to understand new technologies and utilize them most effectively in clinical practice. I’m including hospital and health system leaders here of course, but also leaders across the academic space. We must collectively ensure that nurses are coming out of their educational paths with a comprehensive knowledge of how technology is impacting the industry largely and their profession specifically.

Brian Norris: Great points. Becky’s and Kathleen’s points clearly illustrate how technology is forcing us to think differently in terms of what practicing at top-of-license looks like and how both people and processes across various parts of the healthcare ecosystem have to adapt to keep up.

Caryn: Let’s dive in a little bit deeper into what you mentioned about nursing education, Kathleen. How do you see nursing education shifting to adapt to the growth of technology, use and application within the profession?

Kathleen: Many of the organizations that I talk to or work with are moving forward with virtual reality and simulation-based education. In nursing, the irreplaceable, irreplicable part has always been the hands-on experience—but these innovations are getting trainees closer to the real deal by offering immersive, difficult situations in a safe, controlled environment.

Some institutions are also pulling AI into their curriculum. This is really interesting to see, as it can pose challenges for educators who are not tech natives but are tasked with teaching a new generation of nurses how to understand and apply advanced innovations. This trend highlights the need to build tech literacy at all levels of nursing practice and leadership. And that doesn’t happen overnight—it takes intention and focus—but there really is no alternative. This is where healthcare is headed.

Becky: It is—and part of making that happen across the industry is being willing to collaborate and share resources. Not every healthcare system is going to be able to have a simulation center. Not every school of nursing is going to have access to virtual reality or augmented reality. We have to figure out how to pool information and share resources to provide the same foundational education across the board so that nurses are coming out of school similarly prepared for essential healthcare technologies.

I’ll use a simple example from Intermountain Health. We’ve invested time and money in developing a realistic simulation environment for new nurses or graduates to practice surgical situations, baby deliveries, and other critical decision-making scenarios. One way we leverage technology is to make 3D models of livers for a transplant simulation that teaches nurses how to determine which liver is most viable for transplant. 

The question is…what happens to those models when the simulation is over and new nurses have completed their training? There is a huge opportunity to partner with nursing, pharmacy, and other clinical academic programs to spread valuable knowledge, get the most mileage out of expensive teaching tools like those 3D liver models, and get students interacting with complex systems and technologies before they graduate into the real world.

Caryn: Let’s continue down that path. What role do you see emerging or popularizing innovations like AI or augmented reality playing in the future of nursing practice?

Brian: I think these innovations are going to be commonplace in a decade, but the struggle is going to be operating them with the speed and proficiency that patients expect.

Becky: Yes! Patients and their caregivers don’t want to wait multiple days for a response in the patient portal when they are receiving Amazon packages within a day and UberEats orders within an hour. AI has powered facial recognition on iPhones, in airports (e.g., Clear or Digital ID), and various other venues—so could we use it for patient ID in hospital rooms? Healthcare has always been several steps behind on tech uptake and training, and that might not change entirely, but we can do more to close the gap.

Kathleen: I’ll just chime in to double down on how powerful AI is and can be in healthcare settings. We’ve been using machine learning and predictive analytics for many, many years. Now, we are ramping up generative AI, which beautifully democratizes data. With this capability, anyone can query massive sets of data to identify trends and extract valuable insights to inform better patient care and build healthier communities. GenAI and other innovations can help us accomplish big goals like precision medicine, individualized care, targeted community interventions and satisfaction for patients and clinicians alike.

Caryn: These are great points. Pivoting a bit, how do you expect technology to moderate or mediate the relationship between nurses and regulatory agencies?

Kathleen: There are always potential safety and quality issues anytime you change the way things are done. One of the things we can do is educate nurses to have a better understanding of new, technology-enabled processes to reduce fear, uncertainty, miscommunications, and mistakes that can cause regulatory run-ins.  

Becky: Completely agree. We also need to emphasize education and prioritize collaboration with those regulatory bodies. I hope that, as we build stronger partnerships across different parts of the healthcare ecosystem, that nurses could actually help redesign the regulatory process. In other words, instead of designing regulations towards the least common denominator, we focus on the common denominator. With better understanding and communication between clinicians and regulators, we can reduce burden on nursing staff (e.g., eliminate redundant or unnecessary documentation) so they can focus on delivering excellent patient care, driving positive outcomes, and ensuring quality and safety.

Brian: I love the answers Becky and Kathleen just gave. Nurses really have the ability to influence more than we have in the past, and it’s amazing to see leaders in the nursing space advocate for regulatory change, both on the reimbursement side and on the practice side.

Caryn: Do you see ways in which technology could mitigate or protect against the burnout nurses experience?

Becky: Absolutely. We saw a mass exodus of nurses from healthcare during COVID-19 and, though it was mostly attributed to the stress of pandemic work in hospitals and clinics, there is actually another layer. Nurses are by majority female, and our society still expects women to play the demanding roles of household manager, primary child caretaker, food procurer, etc.—even when they work outside the home. COVID disrupted the normal flow of all these roles and created extra stress and pressure on many nurses. As we recover from this time and attempt to re-grow the nursing profession, we need to do a better job at applying data to create more manageable schedules and processes for nurses.

For example, maybe we need to reconsider 12-hour shift culture and create schedules based on typical workflows, admission patterns, etc. Perhaps there are hybrid arrangements that could allow some nurses to remotely complete critical discharge tasks, allowing onsite staff to prioritize patient experience and caregiver education. With the transition to value-based care, we’re also seeing more emphasis on ‘hospital at home’ models. Could we use geographic data to pair nurses with home care assignments in their area to reduce burden and improve care?

It really comes down to the fact that healthcare leaders must think outside the box and be willing to try new, data-driven strategies to meet the needs of nursing staff.

Lightning Round!

At the end of each LinkedIn Live session, we ask our guests three quick, big-picture healthcare questions:

1. What is one thing in healthcare that has you really excited right now?
2. If you could solve one major challenge for healthcare organizations, what would it be?
3. What is one key trend that you’re keeping an eye on? Anything we should be watching and researching?

Hear answers from all three panelists: