As the global shortfall in skilled staff continues, two thirds of healthcare leaders say it’s leading to burnout, stress, and low morale. Training is particularly affected by this; if a unit is understaffed, it becomes much more difficult to give new starters the level of support they need.

What practical strategies can help address this? Part of it involves finding additional ways to give employees contextual, easily-digestible information that helps them develop their skills and build confidence. AR can play an important role here.

For instance, imagine it’s a busy shift and a new recruit is still learning to use a piece of diagnostic equipment. Through smart glasses, they can overlay their view of the machine with precise, step-by-step visual instructions.

Picture another trainee who needs guidance to complete a procedure, but their supervisor has been temporarily transferred to another clinic to cover a staffing shortfall. AR combined with live video streaming allows for two-way interaction. The supervisor can see exactly what the trainee sees, guide them through the procedure, and even draw and highlight on the screen to give precise direction.

From clinical protocols, health and safety assessments, data protection, through to shift handover checklists (to name just a few), healthcare operations inevitably involve a wide range of compliance obligations. Staying in control of this is a challenge at best; even more so when schedules are packed.

AR can make it easier to manage your compliance burden. For instance, you can integrate relevant compliance checklists with step-by-step instructions for specific activities, visually displayed to employees through smart glasses. It’s even possible for staff to virtually “tick off” items using voice commands, keeping their hands free for the task in hand.

Your team can log all checklist interactions automatically. This means you can see what has (and hasn’t) been done and intervene where necessary.

Across the healthcare sector, innovation continues in areas such as electronic health record (EHR) systems, predictive analytics, connected diagnostics, robotics, and more. These types of projects offer huge potential in terms of enhancing patient care, as well as in streamlining operations.

But how do frontline employees experience digital transformation? After all, it means replacing the old, familiar processes with unfamiliar equipment, software, and workflows. In the early implementation stage, it can seem daunting, especially for clinical staff with already demanding schedules.

AR can be a really useful tool to help employees familiarize themselves with these new technologies and processes. For example, your team is still learning to use a new portable blood analyzer. AR can overlay step-by-step instructions directly onto the machine itself, guiding them through setup, usage, and troubleshooting.