Challenges of Bringing Augmented Reality into Nursing Medication Preparation.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Augmented reality (AR) shows promise for supporting nursing medication preparation.
• Integration into routine clinical practice remains a significant barrier.
• Challenges stem from applying technology within complex ward environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the challenges of integrating AR-based pill recognition into nursing medication preparation workflows.
• To assess the feasibility and limitations of image-based medication recognition in realistic clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory study design.
• Literature review, ward workflow analysis, and wearable device market scan.
• Proof-of-concept development for image-based oral medication recognition.

Main Results:

• Pill classification was successful under controlled conditions.
• Performance degraded significantly with realistic variability, especially for visually similar medications.
• Key limitations were linked to acquiring sufficient visual input during routine tasks, not solely model performance.

Conclusions:

• Single-image recognition is less viable than methods supporting sequential evidence acquisition and verification.
• Successful AR integration requires aligning sensing capabilities, user interaction, and existing clinical workflows.
• Future research should focus on context-aware AR solutions for medication safety.