The Decline of Hospital-Based Nursing Care

Having recently survived a 4-day stay at a local university-affiliated hospital, I can only conclude that today's nursing care should be represented by the clackety-clack of a keyboard and the reflected glow of a computer monitor. Despite its intent to streamline work and possibly prevent medication errors,* the nurse's ever-present mobile computer workstation (left) merely appears to serve as an attention-sucking barrier between nurse and patient—an imperial scutum against professional empathy for the sickest of the sick.

* And has anyone demonstrated this?

Image of Infologix's ST7 Mobile Workstation.