nursehere

Inspiration

Nurses work incredibly hard to care for patients, but they also have to spend time answering repetitive questions and attending to routine requests. We wanted to explore how technology and AI could automate some of these tasks, allowing nurses to focus more on providing quality patient care. This inspired us to create NurseHere, a platform designed to streamline communication between patients, their families, and nurses.

What it does

NurseHere is an AI-powered nursing assistant that allows patients and their family members to ask questions and receive assistance through a chatbot. Instead of relying on nurses for every routine query, patients can use the chatbot to get help with common, non-urgent concerns. The platform also aims to make communication between patients and nurses more convenient, reducing unnecessary interruptions and helping nurses manage their workload more efficiently.

How we built it

We divided the project into front-end and back-end development, with each team member focusing on their respective responsibilities. We integrated a large language model (LLM) to power the chatbot's conversational capabilities. Before developing the project, we also gathered feedback and statistics from people around us to better understand their perspectives on nurses' daily routines and the challenges associated with repetitive tasks. This helped us ground our idea in a real-world problem.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was figuring out how to turn a broad problem into a practical solution. We had to consider how the chatbot could be useful without attempting to replace nurses' professional judgement. Integrating an LLM also required us to think about how to make its responses relevant and useful, especially in a healthcare setting where incorrect information could have serious consequences. Coordinating front-end and back-end development was another important part of bringing the different components together.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud to have developed a project that addresses a real-world problem rather than simply building something for demonstration. By researching people's perspectives before development and turning our findings into a working concept, we explored how technology could make a meaningful difference in healthcare. We are especially proud of the potential NurseHere has to reduce repetitive tasks, improve communication, and give nurses more time to focus on their patients.

What we learned

We learned how to collaborate across front-end and back-end development, integrate an LLM into an application, and approach a problem with real-world users in mind. We also learned that developing an AI solution involves more than making it functional: it requires considering reliability, user experience, and the consequences of incorrect responses. Most importantly, we learned to view technology as a way to support healthcare professionals, rather than simply replace existing human roles.

What's next for nursehere

We hope to expand NurseHere beyond its current prototype by gathering feedback from nurses, patients, and healthcare professionals to better understand their needs. In the future, we aim to improve the chatbot's reliability, introduce a system for nurses to manage and respond to patient requests through the platform, and explore ways to identify and escalate urgent concerns to the appropriate medical staff. Ultimately, we hope to develop NurseHere into a practical tool that can be tested in real healthcare environments and help make everyday patient care more efficient.