Editorial: Nursing innovations – Pro‐Time Watches

Abstract

A few years ago one of our Assistant Editors, Thomas Wong, suggested that we use editorials to highlight nursing innovations and I realise that we have, singularly, failed to do so. However, I hope to correct that with this editorial and subsequent ones, by commenting on innovations that I have encountered very recently. Clearly, JCN cannot endorse or advertise specific products; in all cases I will refer to specific products that I consider innovative – it is the ideas behind these products that I will try to convey. I want to bring to your attention an innovation which is both exquisite in its simplicity but which addresses an incredibly serious and topical issue. The innovation is a watch, produced by Pro-Time Watches (http://www.pro-timewatches.com) that is designed to be worked by nurses in clinical practice – either as a fob watch or on a chain – and which does not need to be touched to see the time. I encountered Pro-Time Watches on my recent visit to the American Academy of Nursing in Pheonix Arizona in November 2009 where they had a stand. The watch was invented by Elaine Wozniak and Catherine Menewisch who are both nurse practitioners in New Jersey and Arizona, respectively. The watch is marketed by Leon and Elaine Wozniak. Nurses have long been discouraged from wearing wrist watches, both because they increase the likelihood of injuring a patient during lifting and handling and also because they harbour bacteria, which can be harmful to vulnerable patients. The classic solution to this problem has been the traditional fob watch – worn pinned to the breast of the nursing uniform. The watch was less likely to come into contact with a patient, thereby reducing the risk of injury or infection. However, and this fact has been largely ignored in the past, nurses still have to touch the fob watch to see the screen; it has to be held and turned upwards by hand. While the risk of infection may be minimal – or may have been minimal, the rise of hospital ‘super-bugs’, principally MRSA, has necessitated an almost complete revision of infection control procedures and a cessation of practices long tolerated, including the removal of wedding rings during procedures (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1059535/Nurses-face-SACK-refuse-remove-wedding-rings-new-hygiene-campaign.html; retrieved 9 February 2009). In the same way, as doctors’ mobile phones (unlike patients’) do not interfere with hospital equipment; wedding rings appeared not to be a source of infection! So, what’s special about Pro-Time watches? According to their website, Pro-Time Watches incorporate ‘tilt technology’– quite simply, the back of the watch is bevelled and this tilts the face of the watch towards the wearer. The nurse using a Pro-Time watch only needs to glance down to see the time or to time a procedure; there is no need to touch the watch. I tried one and it works and, what is more, the watch is beautifully made. I urge a visit to the Pro-Time webpage to see the product and to find out how one can obtain it. I know that at least one nursing student in the UK is using one and it is both useful and much admired.