At health systems across the country, nurses are using Art to draft end-of-shift care plan notes—reducing cognitive burden, supporting efficient and more complete handoffs, and enhancing nurses’ ability to tailor care plans to the unique needs of every patient.
At Mercy, one of the 15 largest health systems in the U.S., average end-of-shift documentation time fell from 3.5 minutes per note to about 32 seconds—an 85% reduction—while the number of notes completed fully and on-time increased by 225%.
Rather than simply summarizing the care delivered, Art structures the notes around the patient goals each nurse identified for the shift. In doing so, Art makes it easier to evaluate whether patients are progressing toward discharge as expected—and share timely recommendations with the incoming team.
“With this new workflow, care planning is no longer something nurses rush through at the end of a long shift,” said a Mercy nurse. “Because the process is built directly in the work they’re already doing—without requiring them to learn anything new—it brings care planning to the forefront. This not only supports more personalized care for each patient, but also ensures every clinician has a clear, thorough summary of what happened during the shift. And most importantly, it reduces time spent at the computer and gives nurses more time at the bedside.”
Art pulls relevant information from across the patient record—including flowsheets, medication administration records, vitals, orders, and prior notes—and drafts a structured summary for the nurse to review and refine based on goals determined at the beginning of each shift. Nurses review and edit the draft before signing, retaining full control over clinical judgment, context, and final language.
Across organizations using Art for end-of-shift notes, nurses save about one minute per note on average compared to fully manual documentation. For some nurses, those savings add up to 8–10 minutes per 12-hour shift—time that can be redirected to patient care, coordination with colleagues, or completing other clinical responsibilities.
Health systems are also seeing improvements in documentation quality. Documentation auditors at Bryan Health in Nebraska report that Art-assisted end-of-shift notes are clearer and more complete, improving the overall patient record. Because Art is fully integrated with the Epic EHR, it can rapidly gather and incorporate information from throughout the patient chart and deliver a more comprehensive view of what occurred during a shift and what requires follow-up.
“The note is now going to be the new backbone of the chart and help clinicians with telling the story,” a clinical documentation specialist at Bryan Health said.
“When I begin rounds each morning, the first thing I want to know is what happened overnight,” said a Mercy physician. “The end-of-shift care plan gives me the key updates I need right away, so I can walk into each patient’s room fully informed. This technology fosters collaboration among multi-disciplinary team members which is critical to a patient’s care.”
As more organizations adopt the feature, clearer and more complete handoff notes mean the next nurse, the next physician, and the next care team member start their shifts with a better understanding of where the patient stands and what they need next.
