Elevating the Voice of the Nurse in Solution Design and Implementation
May is National Nurses Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the invaluable contributions that nurses make each and every day. Nurses are central to eVideon’s mission, as we strive to design innovative solutions that empower nurses, amplify their voice, and restore joy and meaning to their profession.
As the demand for smart hospital rooms rises, hospitals are seeking innovative ways to blend technology and clinical efficiency. A core aim of a tech-enabled care environment is to reduce the administrative burden on nurses and enable nurses to operate at the top of their license. One way we support our hospital partners on their smart room journey is by leveraging the vast expertise of our in-house clinical team. With each client engagement, we pair one of our highly experienced Clinical Implementation Directors with our hospital partners to ensure that the deployment of our Vibe Health platform will have both an immediate and long-term impact on improving the clinician experience.
For this special feature blog, we sat down with the newest members of our nursing team to ask them why they chose to be a part of the noble profession of nursing, and the journey that brought them to eVideon.
Meet Our Nurses
Kristina Santoro, BSN, RN, Clinical Solutions Director, 27 years of experience as a bedside nurse, staff educator, and clinical technology leader.
Kristina: When I was a child, my grandfather was frequently admitted to the hospital for problems related to his heart and lungs. I can remember my older brother complaining about not wanting to visit him because the hospital was “sad” or“scary”. I felt the exact opposite. When we would visit my grandfather in the hospital, I felt like I was home. I don’t know how else to describe it—the sounds of the machines, the hustle and bustle of the staff, and the sights of the patients themselves all made me feel like I was supposed to be there. After one of our visits, I recall saying to my mom and aunt, “I’m going to work here when I get older.” Fast forward 20+ years, and that little girl became a nurse, and eventually worked in the same hospital where she visited her grandfather all those years earlier.
This hospital was also where I was first introduced to the concept of interactive patientcare, which would change my world as a nurse as I knew it. As a nurse, I had worked in a pediatric hospital, a primary care setting, and as a bedside nurse on a medical/surgical unit. After transferring to a GYN and urology surgery unit, I became a Patient Care Coordinator and ultimately a staff educator. My role in education opened my eyes to how technology can assist both staff and patients.
The concept of a smart room was still years away from being implemented; however, the initial elements of tech-enabled patient care were being introduced and I knew I wanted to be part of it! Interactive patient care provides the best of both worlds—for nurses, it reduces the number of required tasks and allows them to be more efficient; and for patients and families, it enables them to be active participants in their care plan.
The beauty of nursing is that there are so many different roles and paths one can take in their career. My story is just one example of that. Throughout my nearly thirty years as a nurse, I have always been guided by one thing—treating patients as if they were my grandfather lying in the bed. Even though I am no longer at the bedside, the work that I do allows me to do just that. As a Clinical Solutions Director at eVideon, I rely not only on my nursing experience, but also on my personal experiences as a patient and family member when helping our hospital clients implement our Vibe Health platform. Our solutions improve care and outcomes and I know that my grandfather would be so proud of the nurse I am today and the work that I do.
Chelsey Kamla, MSN, RN, Clinical Solutions Director, 11+ years of experience providing hands-on patientcare, 6+ years as a bedside nurse, nursing educator, and clinical technology implementation nurse.
I feel lucky to say that I have been in patient facing roles since 2012, when I started my journey in healthcare as a Certified Nursing Assistant. I loved thinking about the “why” behind conditions, medications, patient changes, etc., and I felt fortunate to be a trusted figure with patients during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. I went on to gain more hands-on experience as a phlebotomist and medical assistant; however, it was my time spent as a volunteer in the emergency room that solidified my career path to pursue nursing. I was awestruck by the nurses and their ability to remain focused, calm, and compassionate in what consistently felt like a chaotic environment.
After becoming an RN in 2017, I followed the path of my mentors as an emergency nurse in Chicago. I spent five years at the bedside in the ER, with three of those years as an ER COVID travel nurse, where I found the gaps in healthcare to be consistent across hospitals and regions. I found myself constantly searching for better ways to educate patients, engage them in their care plan, and prepare them for life outside of the hospital. I longed for more dedicated time with my patients and less extraneous tasks that took me away from the bedside. Despite the challenges, I found great satisfaction in educating my patients as well as my peers, which led me to opportunities in nursing education and healthcare technology integration. I have truly loved learning and growing in the nursing profession and still feel just as fortunate to be a part of this noble career.
These experiences inspired me to pursue a career path that would focus on tackling the core issues impacting nurses. I joined an amazing group of nursing leaders working to create, implement, and refine workflows surrounding virtual nursing technology. For me, it is inspiring to see the influence that nurses can have on the future of healthcare when they are given a seat at the technology table and their voice is incorporated into the design of tech-enabled workflows. This jump into tech is a testament to the many opportunities available to nurses away from the bedside, and how valued our knowledge and expertise is across the healthcare industry. I chose to continue this important work with eVideon, and I feel so fortunate to be a nursing voice and advocate for our end-users in this role. I look forward to working alongside our many amazing nursing partners and continuing to improve upon the patient and clinical experience.
Interested in connecting with one of our nursing leaders? Contact us to get in touch with any member of our team!
