Hi-Tech Nursing Innovations at Hadassah

Despite the best efforts of our medical caregivers, certain medical procedures can be painful or unpleasant. Do we just “grin and bear it,” or can we come up with better methods to mitigate the pain?

Not if Hadassah Medical Organisation nurses can help it. At Hadassah we always put our patients’ wellbeing first.  In our hospitals in Jerusalem, nurses are introducing virtual-reality headsets so patients can focus on calming landscapes during unpleasant procedures.

Research has shown that virtual reality helps in making surgical procedures less painful and anxiety-producing, and can even improve outcomes.

It’s the idea of Hadassah’s Research and Innovation Centre in Nursing, directed by Sigal Shafran Tikva, the only such centre of its kind in Israel.

 “Nurses are already adept at thinking on their feet and finding solutions for problems as they arise,” Tikva says. “This formalises their ideas.”

Personal Oncology Nurse Coordinator at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem Dalia Gordon approached the innovation centre to find a way to help patients when they go home and inevitably come up with questions.

Hadassah developed a chatbot, a way for patients to get answers to their pressing questions in real-time. The Orthopaedics Department is already using the new approach.