iPads In Hospitals Help With PPE Shortages And Keeping Patients Accompanied

Image via Apple.  In US hospitals, iPads are used for communication from patients to their family members, nurses, doctors and healthcar...

Image via Apple. 

In US hospitals, iPads are used for communication from patients to their family members, nurses, doctors and healthcare workers. Healthcare facilities are using the iPads for FaceTime so staff and relatives can see and talk to the patients, even when visitors are now forbidden to go beyond the waiting room. This method is used in hospitals across the United States, from the hard-hit New York State in the East Coast to California in the West Coast.

In an effort to curb the depletion of PPE (personal protective equipment), which includes the lack of N95 masks, surgical masks, gowns and face shields, the Massachusetts General Hospital knew that the use of iPad for communication between patients to nurses, doctors and family reduced the use of protective gear by 50%. The hospital’s iPad program launched three weeks ago and it consists of hundreds of iPads placed in every patient’s bed in the hospital, with the doctors and nurses communicating with the patient from their offices and conference rooms. This reduced the staff from contacting and exposing the virus from entering the patient’s room excessively, especially if it is unnecessary to go in to check the monitors and medications the patient is taking.

Other than reducing exposure and contacting the coronavirus easily in the hospital, iPads are also known for their uses in dying patients in the hospital. Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and the Harris Health System in Houston, Texas are using the iPads for the family members to say their final words and goodbyes to loved ones. This is a great addition to the no visitors policies at hospitals when all of the patients have to end up passing away by themselves.

This allows for a personal connection whenever nurses, families and doctors can check on patients remotely. It allows them to feel more comfortable and not alone, without needing any staff to get risked and contract the coronavirus. iPads are the key to preserving the protective gear and masks in the hospitals while keeping every patient occupied even without their kin with them.