Healthcare Disrupters: Cedars-Sinai’s David Marshall on How Patient Care Technologies Are Changing the Field of Nursing
The “Healthcare Disrupters” podcast recently interviewed David Marshall, JD, DNP, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at Cedars-Sinai, about how nursing and technology have evolved during his 40-year career, leading to improved patient care and an enhanced work environment in which nurses can thrive.
Marshall told the podcast’s host, Ohad Arazi, that nurses have maintained a unique position within healthcare.
“They are the connectors between the patient and providers and really are the ones who spend the most time with the patients when they contact the healthcare system,” said Marshall, who holds the James R. Klinenberg, MD, and Lynn Klinenberg Linkin Chair in Nursing in honor of Linda Burnes Bolton. “Human connection and the relationships that develop between patients and nurses, I think is something that we need to focus on, cultivate and maintain.”
Marshall told Arazi that technology has helped strengthen those connections by easing nurses’ administrative burden as well as improving patient capacity and flow challenges, which are common throughout health systems nationwide.
“There weren’t MRIs when I became a nurse, and there are MRIs now, and the images that you can get are incredible,” he said. “Point-of-care ultrasound—I’ve seen it used in the disaster setting. And you know, it’s really a game-changer … it can make the diagnosis quicker, and the intervention comes quicker.”
Marshall told Arazi that he continues to seek out ways to improve key aspects of healthcare that impact patients and providers—and ways to improve outcomes.
“My top priorities are quality, safety, financial stewardship and experience—both for the patient and for the employee with the organization,” Marshall said, adding that nursing leaders across the U.S. share those areas of focus.
Click here to listen to the entire episode of the “Healthcare Disrupters.”