Lessons From Australia: How Digital Tools Could Support NZ Nurses In Palliative Care

Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 8:38 am
Article: Hugh Grant

A 2024 study from the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD) at Flinders University highlights how dashboards and automation tools could transform palliative care delivery, offering insights that could benefit New Zealand’s strained healthcare system.

Palliative care is one of the most emotionally demanding and resource-intensive fields in healthcare. In their roles providing end-of-life care, nurses often face challenges like high workloads and inefficient systems, while also dealing with limited resources.

In Australia, researchers Priyanka Vandersman and Jennifer Tieman turned to nurses for insight into digital tools that could improve their work. Their findings, published in the BMC Nursing journal, offer a roadmap for addressing similar challenges in New Zealand where the demand for quality palliative care continues to grow.

The State of Palliative Care

High standards of palliative care rely on compassionate support and efficient systems, and technology is having an increasing role. For instance, innovations like caregiver robots are taking off in China, while machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are already being used to analyze healthcare notes made by workers carrying out home care in Alamo, CA.

In New Zealand, an aging population and thinly stretched resources have put palliative care under increasing strain. Access to consistent, high-quality care remains uneven, especially in rural areas. Workforce burnout is a persistent issue with understaffing playing a significant role, as highlighted in the December strikes.

A report published in September 2024 captured the experiences of consumers and whānau from underserved communities, emphasizing the need for culturally appropriate and more accessible palliative care services across the nation. These developments underscore the pressing need for systemic improvements to ensure all New Zealanders have access to quality care.

Insights From Australia: What Nurses Want

P. Vandersman and J. Tieman’s study, “‘Technology in end-of-life care is very important’: the view of nurses regarding technology and end-of-life care”, gathered input from 64 nurses, care workers, and managers. While exploring their attitudes with regard to using technology to provide palliative, two primary needs stood out:

Firstly, nurses emphasized the need for consolidated digital dashboards to manage patient data and improve communication between care teams. One of the main challenges they faced was navigating numerous, fragmented systems and platforms. This meant they ended up with an increased workload and data inaccuracies. Study participants also highlighted the need for systems that enable symptom assessment and ongoing condition monitoring.

The second area nurses identified for improvement was automation. They highlighted the use of automation to eliminate human error in areas prone to it, like documentation and medication administration. This could also free up time for nurses to focus on direct patient care.

The study’s primary author, Dr. Priyanka Vandersman, stated, “By developing intuitive digital solutions and providing nurses with the right support and education, we can ensure technology complements compassionate caregiving, enhancing residents’ choice, dignity, and quality of life in their final stages.”

Moving Forward: Could These Tools Work for NZ Nurses?

While the tools identified in the Australian study hold promise, their adoption in New Zealand would require overcoming some serious challenges. Recent budget cuts to digital healthcare funding have slowed progress on implementing new technologies, and resistance to new systems among an already overburdened workforce could hinder uptake. Ultimately, balancing technological innovation with practical challenges will continue to be an underlying theme for palliative care in New Zealand throughout 2025.

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