Massachusetts General Hospital Nurses Help Develop Tech to Alleviate Frontline Workers' Burdens

Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital partnered with infusion therapy and pain management company B. Braun Medical to create innovation teams to develop technologies that alleviate front-line workers' burdens and improve patient care. 

Colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital and B. Braun will collaborate in innovation teams, focusing on using technology to develop prototypes that bring to life ideas from nursing staff that work to deliver care more efficiently and productively, while also enhancing the work life and well-being of care teams, according to a May 11 press release. 

"After more than two years of fighting the pandemic and dealing with labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, our front-line healthcare staff are facing physical and emotional fatigue that must be addressed from many different angles," said Hiyam Nadel, RN, director of the center for innovations in care delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital. "We believe some of the best ideas will come from the front-line workers themselves who are most familiar with the challenges of delivering quality care under extraordinary circumstances. Our goal is to identify the most promising solutions, leverage the latest technologies to develop testable prototypes, and secure the resources needed to bring them to reality."

Massachusetts General Hospital and B. Braun plan to publish the findings from the collaborative, with the aim of pursuing commercialization of technologies that have the strongest potential for adoption by other healthcare systems.