Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1235190
39 NURSING SPOTLIGHT Meet Moxi, Medical City Dallas' robotic nurse assistant By Jackie Drees M edical City Dallas implemented a solution to optimize nurses' daily tasks: a clinical assistant robot named Moxi, according to a Feb. 14 Dallas Morning News report. Medical City Dallas launched the robot assistant in its heart and spine hospitals in October to help nurses with routine tasks such as updating patients' medical records instantaneously and delivering blood samples back and forth to the lab. The health system partnered with Austin, Texas-based artificial intelligence firm Diligent Robotics to launch Moxi, becoming the first hospital in north Texas to use a full-time robot in a clinical setting, according to the report. Before rolling out at Medical City Dallas, Moxi completed its pilot phase with trials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hos- pital Dallas and three other hospitals in the state. Moxi has sensors that help it navigate and respond to pa- tient's movements as it travels across hospital floors. The robot is also equipped with humanlike features to help patients feel more comfortable interacting with it; Moxi can acknowledge a person's presence and make eye con- tact with its LED eyes. When a nurse interacts with Moxi in a way that would typically trigger an error message, the robot instead makes "pleasant" beeps and chirping noises to notify them, the publication reported. By 2030, Texas will experience a shortage of more than 71,000 nurses, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. "[Moxi's] really meant to be a team member that's sup- porting you in the background," said Stefanie Beavers, di- rector of surgical and procedural services at Medical City Dallas, according to the report. "This really offers health- care facilities an opportunity for the nursing workforce to focus on patient care and be directly at the bedside versus taking them away and allowing their time to be truly dedicated to patient care tasks." n Nurse practitioner employment by state By Kelly Gooch N ew York has the highest number of employed nurse practitioners among all 50 U.S. states, accord- ing to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data collected in May 2018. Here is the employment level of nurse prac- titioners by state (excluding self-employed workers), ranked from highest to lowest: New York: 13,710 California: 13,420 Texas: 12,020 Florida: 10,590 Ohio: 7,510 Pennsylvania: 7,280 Tennessee: 7,010 Massachusetts: 6,200 Georgia: 6,110 New Jersey: 5,900 Illinois: 5,540 Indiana: 4,780 North Carolina: 4,760 Virginia: 4,710 Michigan: 4,490 Missouri: 4,390 Minnesota: 3,880 Maryland: 3,710 Alabama: 3,680 Arizona: 3,510 Washington: 3,430 Kentucky: 3,160 Wisconsin: 3,030 Mississippi: 2,930 Colorado: 2,920 Louisiana: 2,820 Connecticut: 2,340 Kansas: 2,270 South Carolina: 2,260 Oregon: 2,030 Arkansas: 1,900 Iowa: 1,830 Oklahoma: 1,590 Utah: 1,380 Maine: 1,240 New Hampshire: 1,140 West Virginia: 1,080 Nebraska: 1,070 New Mexico: 980 Delaware: 760 Idaho: 750 Nevada: 710 Rhode Island: 690 Montana: 640 South Dakota: 540 Vermont: 520 North Dakota: 480 Alaska: 440 Hawaii: 410 Wyoming: 290 n