By 2034, experts have projected, there will be a shortage of between 17,800 to 48,000 primary care physicians. For full-time registered nurses, 2030 projections are even steeper.
Healthcare organizations are well aware of these forecasts and have been testing and deploying solutions to improve employee satisfaction and retention and attract new talent. At ViVE 2025 in Nashville, Tenn., industry leaders discussed how improvements supported by artificial intelligence (AI) are offering promising results for streamlining workflows.
In a Monday session, Mayo Clinic Chief Nursing Officer Ryannon Frederick shared lessons from the recent go-lives of an ambient nursing documentation tool in key units on the health system’s Arizona and Florida campuses.
As a registered nurse, Frederick has experienced firsthand the challenges that documentation presents for care teams. Despite being “pro-technology,” she said, she could not name an existing solution that improved workflow for nurses while improving patient outcomes.
Documentation can also be a personal process, Frederick said, as nurses have their own preferences: Some still used a pen and paper to write everything down during an assessment. Others would document on the computer at the bedside as they went along. And still others would begin documentation with a patient but not finish it until they’d visited multiple rooms. Those nurses may work with multiple devices, their pockets stuffed with items.