I'd let AI write my notes
Seriously, would save me so much time!
AI and ChatGPT and the like have been buzzing or trending or whatever the kids are saying these days. I’ve heard everything from human-extinction theories to miracle cures, all thanks to predictive algorithms. Because that’s what ‘Artificial Intelligence’ is: predictive algorithms that can search the collective knowledge of humanity at the speed of light.
And now, we can use it to write medical documentation.
I hear the alarmists already. HIPPA! Data leaks! Sinister plots to take over human jobs!
No robot is going to be able to do my job in the foreseeable future. When they can, I will gladly sit back on a beach and let the nurse-bots administer enemas. We’ll have hover cars and molecular transporters and spend our days making art and napping. Win-win.
In the meantime, I’d gladly let a computer document for me. I spend hours every shift documenting and I’m fast at it. If there was a tool to take away the tedium of clicking boxes and selecting options, I’m all for it. Not to mention the narrative notes, remembering times and sequences during an emergency, and ensuring my legal booty is covered. (I had a family member threaten to ‘call my lawyer!’ last week. Eyeroll, but also annoying because now I have to write that up in a stupid note with every detail for the entire 12-hours to prove they’re being hyperbolic.)
Steve Lohr with the New York Times wrote an article about doctors using AI to write clinical notes for them. The notes are reviewed for accuracy, then signed just like a normal narrative note. This saved hours of work every week, per Dr. Hitchcock, who was interviewed in the article.
Let’s break it down for nursing. If I work as a standard medical-surgical nurse I will have 4-5 patients every shift. That means every hour I have 12-15 minutes to spend on each patient. This includes: reviewing orders and records, assisting with personal care and toileting, administering medications, doing assessments, and documenting.
So, if I spend 10 minutes in one room helping mee-maw use the commode, I now have only 10 minutes per patient. If I spend another 15 minutes on the phone with a family member, I now have 7 minutes. 7 minutes to assess, give medications, give education and answer questions, get a fresh cup of water, boost up in bed, apply an ice pack, etc., etc. Oh wait, we forgot charting, so block out 2 minutes per patient for basic documentation. That leaves me at 5 minutes per patient, per hour.
Why do your nurses run out of the room? Because they also haven’t peed in 8 hours and now have only 4 minutes per patient.
I’ve often said I’d give my left kidney for a scribe. Just someone to follow me around and write things down, a la Dr. Glaucomflecken’s Johnathon. Silent, ever present, able to carry me when my legs get tired.
Documentation burden is increasing constantly. The reports, the audits, the tracking. Finacial and legal entries, not to mention the ever-increasing complexity of patients and the interventions we use. We simply do not have enough time.
So, please, don’t freak out when AI is faster and better at doing tedious jobs. There was a panic about automobiles taking hostler jobs. That electricity was going to escape the wires and kill us all. Today, modern people who are alive this very moment, believe there are space lasers starting forest fires.
New technology has always freaked out humans. But when that technology can do boring, menial jobs faster and better, let’s adapt and let it work. Please, we’re tired.
Thank you for reading! You can follow me on Instagram and subscribe to this newsletter to stay up to date with posts, practice NCLEX questions, and my stories of life as an inpatient nurse.
If you found this article interesting, useful, or entertaining, please consider donating via a subscription. All This Is My Nurse Face content is free, but you can choose a subscription to help support my writing. My goal is to educate and inspire healthcare professionals and laymen alike. Your support helps me achieve that!
Subscribed
Also, please check out my other Substack: WritingRampant. No nursing, but occasional blood and guts. (My characters like to stab each other. Such drama queens...)
Enjoy!
Anna, RN, BSN, CCRN
Necessary disclaimer: I am discussing medications and medical conditions in this article based on my personal experiences as a nurse. Your facility may have different requirements and resources. Use your own nursing judgement to assess and treat your patients according to your governing body and facility guidelines. All information within this article is correct to the best of my knowledge, but should be confirmed through verified evidence-based sources. I am not responsible for any clinical decisions made based on this article.
I think you misspelled space lasers. I think it's spelled lightning?