Voice to Text for Nurses
Your hands are busy with patients, not keyboards. Blurt lets you speak your nursing notes, shift handoffs, and care documentation while you work. Hold a button, say what you need to document, release. Text appears wherever your cursor is — in your notes app, email, or any text field. No complex EHR integration. No training. Just talk and type.
The Typing Problem
Charting at the end of a 12-hour shift
You spent all day with patients, and now you're staring at a computer screen at 7:30pm trying to remember what happened at 8am. Your feet hurt, your brain is fried, and you still have 45 minutes of documentation ahead. You know you should chart as you go, but there's never time when you're running between rooms.
Patient handoffs that lose critical details
You're giving report to the next shift and trying to remember everything important about six patients. The verbal handoff is easy — you could talk through it in your sleep. But writing it all down so nothing slips through? That takes three times longer than just saying it. Something always gets missed in translation.
Care notes while standing at a patient's bedside
You just assessed a patient and noticed something that needs documenting right now. But the nearest computer is down the hall, and by the time you get there, you'll have two more patients calling. You scribble something illegible on your notepad and hope you remember to type it up later. You won't.
Typing with gloves or freshly sanitized hands
You just finished a procedure and need to document it immediately. Your hands are either gloved or you just used sanitizer for the third time this hour. The keyboard feels wrong, your fingers don't move right, and autocorrect is fighting you. A two-minute note turns into five minutes of frustration.
Falling behind on documentation during busy shifts
Three call lights are blinking, a new admission just arrived, and your documentation is already two hours behind. You know the only way to catch up is to stay late — again. Your notes get shorter and less detailed because you're just trying to survive the shift. The documentation burden is why you considered leaving bedside nursing.
How It Works
Blurt works anywhere you type on macOS — your notes app, email, or any text field where you document patient care.
Hold your hotkey
Press your chosen shortcut. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening.
Talk naturally
Speak your nursing notes like you would during verbal handoff. Blurt handles punctuation.
Release and done
Text appears at your cursor. Copy it wherever you need it.
Real Scenarios
Dictating patient assessments in real-time
You just finished assessing a patient and need to document vital signs, observations, and interventions. Instead of hunting for a computer, pull out your phone or find any open text field. Hold the button and say 'Patient alert and oriented, lung sounds clear bilaterally, IV site clean and dry, no signs of infiltration, patient reports pain level of 3 out of 10, down from 6 after medication.' Done in 15 seconds, not 5 minutes.
Creating detailed shift handoff notes
End of shift, and you need to prepare handoff notes for six patients. Instead of typing each one, talk through them like you would verbally: 'Room 412, 72-year-old male, post-op day 2 from hip replacement. Pain controlled on oral meds. Physical therapy coming at 10am. Family wants to be called before discharge planning meeting.' Handoff notes written in a fraction of the time.
Quick incident documentation
A patient had a near-fall and you need to document it immediately while details are fresh. Hold the button and describe exactly what happened: 'Patient attempted to ambulate independently despite fall risk protocol. Found holding onto bed rail, assisted back to bed. No injury observed. Call light reinforcement provided, bed alarm verified active.' Incident documented in real-time, not reconstructed hours later.
Medication administration notes
You just administered medications and need to document patient responses. Instead of clicking through screens, speak your notes: 'Administered scheduled Lasix 40mg IV at 0900. Patient tolerated well, no complaints of dizziness. Will monitor urine output and reassess in two hours.' Documentation done before you leave the room.
Family communication logs
You just spoke with a patient's family and need to document the conversation. Hold and speak: 'Spoke with patient daughter Sarah by phone at 1430. Updated on patient condition, answered questions about discharge timeline. Daughter expressed concern about home care, provided information about home health referral. Will follow up with case manager.' Family communication documented while you still remember the details.
Care plan updates during rounds
You're rounding with the care team and need to capture action items in real-time. As decisions are made, dictate: 'Patient to be advanced to regular diet per physician order. Physical therapy consult placed, goal for ambulation by end of shift. Foley catheter to be discontinued today per protocol.' Care plan updates captured live, not forgotten after rounds end.
End-of-shift charting catch-up
It's 7pm and you still have documentation to complete before you can leave. Instead of typing for 30 minutes, talk through your remaining notes. What would take half an hour of typing takes 10 minutes of speaking. You might actually leave on time for once.
Why nurses choose Blurt over built-in dictation
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Single hotkey, instant start | Click microphone or say 'Hey Siri' |
| Speed | Text appears in under 500ms | 2-3 second delay common |
| Medical terms | Handles common nursing terminology | Often mangles medication names |
| Reliability | Consistent accuracy across sessions | Frequently fails or mishears |
| Privacy | No recordings stored after transcription | May send audio to Apple servers |
| Cost | $10/month or $99/year, First 1,000 words free | Free but frustrating |
Frequently Asked Questions
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