Hospital Employee Experiences Caring for Patients in Smart Patient Rooms

Smart hospital patient rooms integrate smart devices for digital control of both entertainment (e.g., television and sound system) and the environment (e.g., lights, blinds, and temperature). While primarily designed to enhance the patient experience, this technology also impacts the hospital employees who work in these patient rooms. This study explores hospital employee experiences with smart patient rooms. We conducted 23 interviews with rehabilitation healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, psychologists, and occupational, physical, and speech therapists, to understand their perspectives on working in smart patient rooms. Drawn from thematic analysis of the interviews, our findings offer insights into employees’ current use of the technology, the benefits and drawbacks they encounter, and their suggestions for improving the technology. These findings shed light on the complex problem of building smart patient rooms that simultaneously support the needs of multiple stakeholders, including patients and employees; they also point to important considerations for future designs.