Healthy Computer Use In Hospitals-00-6280

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For some time computerisation rates lagged behind those of General Practitioners but are swiftly catching up, explains Tim Benson in the British Medical Journal. He goes on to say that in hospitals computing was treated as a management overhead, and doctors had no incentive to be involved. Benson concludes that the success of the government's plans for ‘joined up' computer based health services depends on providing appropriate incentives to hospital doctors.¹ Today hospital computer monitors are used in a multitude of ways and for a massive array of functions including entry and administrative systems, communication internally and externally, sharing of knowledge and the retrieval of information (increasingly via the web), planning diagnostic procedures and carrying out investigations.

Computers can now be seen being used in pretty much every area of a hospital: in back offices as well as wards, reception areas, treatment rooms and operating theatres. Even corridors are frequently used as make-shift touch down points. In some situations there is a clear choice between stationary and mobile computing devices, ...
... however there is a third way which enables computer monitors to be adjusted to the needs of each user and so used in an ergonomically correct way. Hospital computer monitors can be mounted on a monitor arm; this enables equipment to be adjusted for different users and for different types of computer use.

Computer technology is made for office use so it requires a large desktop with plenty of room. In a hospital, the working environment is one in which you are walking about the whole hospital all of the time and you never sit down, states Dr Jakob Bardram². This presents an entirely new set of ergonomic challenges that need to be addressed in hospital design. Hospital monitors should be used in such a way that the risk of musculoskeletal disorders is minimised amongst hospital staff. Ergonomic computer furniture and computer monitor arms can certainly support this objective, along with improved communication and education about the use of computer equipment within hospitals.

Hot-desking is extremely common within the hospital environment, the use of computer monitor arms means that staff can personalise their workspace and make it comfortable for themselves as soon as they sit down for the day. Another important issue is the use of technological and clinical equipment within a fairly confined space - this is where ergonomic computer furniture comes into its own: equipment can be located and mounted in such a way that space is maximised.

While the hospital is a work place too it has its own unique set of issues and problems to be resolved so that computers can be used in the most effective and least harmful way. Hospital work spaces can be unconventional; working practices and activities worlds apart from those observed in more conventional work places. Less obvious, but equally important, are differences within the culture, management and systems of hospitals. All of these issues need to be taken into account to design a functional, healthy and efficient space so that computers can continue to do more good than harm in these complex environments.

References
1. Tim Benson, Why general practitioners use computers and hospital doctors do not http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7372/1086

2. Jeanie Croasmun, Building Smarter Hospitals
http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=734

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