Disclaimer: this request may not have anything to do with WDW.
My grandniece’s robotics team is brainstorming for ideas for their innovation portion of this year’s challenge to robotics teams, since there won’t be a regular competition with robots completing chores, head to head.
They have several areas of innovation that they’ve been working on. One is healthcare. Some thing that might make something easier to do. Or that might brighten a day. I feel many healthcare workers have that “if only I had . . .” thing.
One example might be that plastic thingy that holds the mask earbands instead of ears. Except that’s already been innovated.
If you’ve got something in mind let me know. This team builds 100# robots that throw things thru holes and then do pull ups on a bar.
Maybe they can help you while they innovate their way to awards.
Second disclaimer: they’ve thought of a LOT of things in a variety of areas. So far, everything they’ve thought of already exists.
From an inpatient nurse standpoint, we are so stinking short staffed maybe they could make a whole nurse…
Things we struggle with is accurately keeping measurements. It would be great if we could record intakes and outputs as we left a room without going to log onto a computer. Maybe something voice activated that interfaces with our computer.
Documenting takes so much time away from patient care. Anything that helped in that way would make sense.
Passing waters these days is a nightmare - no volunteers! Anything that could take the job that volunteers once did.
Perhaps a robot that took samples to the lab? Programed to know the way from the unit to the lab?
Or a robot that ran down to the kitchen or central stores?
Maybe one to talk to confused patients? LOL. Would that make it worse? LOL. I’ll stop.
Aw, it’s not available in the UK.
I can see the title and description though and it looks good.
Their videos are great. Congratulations to them on their success. I hope it continues
@Shmebulock they might could build something like Baymax and probably would like it better than the relatively simple, rather easily manufactured and readily marketed something they’ve been tasked with.
These teens are something else. One young man last year was throwing out programming jargon right and left, with ease. When an adult mentor asked what time a meeting was, the young man never skipped a beat: “I don’t know, that’s not my area.”
So many questions for you as a fellow RN: Do you guys not have nursing assistants and/or nurse techs? They do I’s and O’s and pass water and such on most units in my hospital. They document too.
As for needing a robot to take samples to the lab, do you guys not have an internal tube system? Someone actually takes samples to the lab? We just pop them in the tube system and away they go.
Why would the robot need to go to the kitchen or central stores, do those departments not deliver to your unit?
I am wondering just how different hospitals are in NY vs WA.
I want something to scratch a nose or ear during surgery. You could also use the device to point at things (very useful in a teaching hospital), push buttons, etc. It’s bad to use a needle driver or forceps and then set them aside- what if that is needed for real and then can’t be used?! Someone’s got to go fetch a replacement, which takes time and manpower. Or worse, it might be forgotten that it’s no longer sterile.
It could be like a Pez dispenser, step on the bottom with your foot and the stick pops out, or the robot peels back the plastic and hands it out in a sterile manner. There are many times it would be nice to have something cheap like that you could immediately throw out. Make it be brightly colored so people would know it’s not sterile after use, and also radiopaque in case it, uh, gets lost.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen sterile instruments used in a non-sterile way and I worry that either the instrument is going to be necessary, or someone will forget it’s not sterile. Plus it’s not the circulating nurse’s job to scratch anyone’s nose, that’s for sure. It’s also kinda funny and kids like that.
We have Patient Care Technicians. We are as short staffed with them as we are for nurses.
My unit has 26 beds, and two hallway beds, so we typically have 28 patients. Ideally we should have four PCTs. We are lucky to have 1 or 2 most days. Some shifts we have zero. So yes - they are the ones who do that for us, but it takes them away from drawing bloods, doing EKG’s, toileting and washing patients, etc. Then those things bog down nurses again. Almost every med pass I do has me rushing to the kitchen to get water so they can take their pills.
Parts of our hospital date back to the 1950’s and until last month, the “new” part of the building was built in the 1970’s. We now have a brand new tower as well. For a period of time a few units were on a tube system to the lab and pharmacy. Then they needed to expand the lab and pharmacy and move them to areas that then could not connect.
Those other departments will deliver during certain hours of the day. But if someone calls in there, etc., we do have times when we can’t get supplies easily. Night shift for sure is at a hardship.
And let me be clear, this is not covid related. We’ve been short since 2017 and it is only getting worse. We have five colleges in our county graduating BSNs and two with Associates programs and my unit is lucky to have one new grad a year. It’s a nightmare. We are supposed to be staffed with 7 - 8 RNs per shift for our critical care unit and some shifts we run with 3. Most shifts it is with 4. I dare say people are lucky to see a nurse for meds and a quick assessment only. And when one patient “goes bad” all 3-4 nurses are sucked into that situation and it’s a hot mess everywhere else. My heart breaks when families call for updates and they have to sit on hold 20 minutes, or wait hours for me to call them back.
Moral of the story - a robot sounds great right now.
Other moral of the story - don’t be an inpatient right now.
It might seem silly but I was trying to think of something the kids could actually make. I remember one robotics team competition my DS was in and it was very similar, it had to do with health care. But no one could actually make what they dreamed up. This puzzled me. I couldn’t understand the point at all. The organizers said it was to get the kids to think.
I told DS he should have just made a disease transmogrifier that cures all conditions, that would be a winner for sure.
I think it’s better to have something simple that they can actually create and feel like they accomplished something, even if it’s just to let the chief resident shove her cap out of her eyes. No one wants s blind surgeon.
Agreed. They must be able to construct what they decide on. My grandniece had fun at Camp Invention for a couple of years until she realized they weren’t really making anything. FIRST robotics and the Army Ants team she’s on do build things; she loves being on the fabrication portion of the team.
As well, and missing in 2020, are outreach projects and camps which are other favorites.
Yes, this was the sequence for my son, as well. He loved FIRST. I think they won “Best Cooperation” in a team at the regional competition, I think because they didn’t have a melt down when it didn’t work.
