HJAR Mar/Apr 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2025 51 DeeDee Moline, MNSc, RN Assistant Professor University of Arkansas Little Rock School of Nursing advance it and streamline it. We have Pul- sara — a tool readily available in Arkansas. Pulsara is a “single source of truth in an otherwise fragmented [communication] system,” and it “unites the entire care team, even across different departments or orga- nizations.” James Woodson, MD, an emer- gency roomphysician, founder, andCEOof Pulsara, states that Pulsara’s purpose is to not only improve the lives of patients, but to improve the lives of caregivers through innovative communication. Use of Pul- sara is proven to reduce treatment times, minimize errors, and simplify the patient transferring process. It can activate entire intervention teams with a single touch. When utilizing Pulsara, diagnostic images such as CT scans, ECGs, etc. are available in real-time. Replacing radio reporting with voice-to-text or audio clips reduces the need for taking notes, passing along information, or risk of miscommunication through recall. Patient management takes place within an individual patient channel. Evidence-based modules within Pulsara house necessary process and treatment el- ements required for various patient types. For example, the stroke module contains fields to capture “Last Known Well” time, stroke scores, etc. The STEMI module con- tains door time, reperfusion time, images of current ECGs, and other metrics. The information stays available and up to date for an entire team. After a small investment of time learning the easy-to-use platform, a user can immediately begin to experi- ence heightened communication effec- tiveness and efficiency. To gauge the impact of Pulsara on the cognitive workload of nurses in central Ar- kansas, I spoke with three nurses that uti- lize it in different roles. Natalie Davenport, BSN, RN, RCIS, leads an on-call cardiac catheterization team where she bears the responsibility of activating each member of the team, as well as being the central point of communication with the inter- ventional cardiologist and the emergency department. She states that the use of Pul- sara allows her team “to all communicate and receive the same information at the same time, and to have confirmation that the information was received.” Her team arrives having access to a current “ECG, vitals and other pertinent information … all in one place.” She no longer needs to make multiple separate texts, calls, and repeat calls “while trying to coordinate the care of a critically ill patient for whom timely care is of the essence.” She states, “Pulsara has made a significant difference in my role and the reduction of my mental workload.” Samantha Brosch, MSN, RN, CEN, has been a charge nurse inmultiple emergency departments across central Arkansas and notes that “Pulsara definitely streamlined the process of communicating with EMS and activating alert systems through the hospital” and made “less room for error.” She notes that “seconds count,” and com- municating through Pulsara requires less keystrokes, less recall of timing and infor- mation, and most definitely reduces her cognitive workload while noticeably and consistently improving patient outcomes. As a trauma program manager, LeeAnn Danner, EdD, MSN, MA, BSN, RN, recalls that Pulsara allowed her to capture critical data in the trauma care process directly from the application. She states, “I knew it would be correct and be exactly what I would need for a trauma survey.” The negative impact of increased cog- nitive workload is significant to nurs- ing workforce. Incorporating enhanced, streamlined, simple-to-use communica- tion tools such as Pulsara demonstrates a proven solution to easing the effects of this tumultuous working environment. Pul- sara is currently available to all Arkansas hospitals, emergency service providers, behavioral health facilities, free-standing emergency departments, and urgent clin- ics. n REFERENCES 1 Collins, R. “Clinician Cognitive Overload and Its Implications for Nurse Leaders.” Nurse Leader 18, issue 1 (February 2020): 44–47. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.mnl.2019.11.007 2 Jennings, B. M.; Baernholdt, M.; Hopkinson, S. G. “Exploring the turbulent nature of nurses’ workflow.” Nursing Outlook 70, issue 3 (May- June 2022): 440–450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. outlook.2022.01.002 3 Surendran, A.; Beccaria, L.; Rees, S.; Mcilveen, P. “Cognitive mental workload of emergency nurs- ing: A scoping review. Nursing Open 11, issue 2 (February 2024): e2111. https://doi.org/10.1002/ nop2.2111 4 Yuan, Z.; Wang, J.; Feng, F.; et al. “The levels and related factors of mental workload among nurs- es: A systematic review and metaanalysis.” Inter- national Journal of Nursing Practice 29, issue 5 (October 2023): e13148. https://doi.org/10.1111/ ijn.13148 5 Mohammadnejad, F; Freeman, S; Klassen-Ross T; et al. “Impacts of Technology Use on the Workload of Registered Nurses: A Scoping Re- view.” Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering, June 17, 2023: 10. doi:10.1177/20556683231180189 6 Pulsara, accessed January 2025. http://www. pulsara.com/ Dee Dee Moline, MNSc, RN, is an assistant profes- sor of nursing within the University of Arkansas Lit- tle Rock School of Nursing. She earned a Master of Science in nursing from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences after graduating from the Uni- versity of Arkansas Little Rock School of Nursing. Moline has worked as a cardiac nurse and served on cardiac-related committees, including chair of the Cardiac Subspecialty Council at CHI St.Vincent and theArkansas Department of Health State Heart Attack Advisory Council. As a STEMI quality man- agement coordinator and program manager, she worked diligently to improve outcomes of those at risk for suffering a heart attack.