After navigating my way through the web I found an interesting website that illustrated some of the most recent technological advances in the medical world. Although this site has multiple devices for all different kinds of medicine, I am going to focus on the new devices I saw that are related to cardiovascular health. The first item are the wellness wristbands that everyone seems to be purchasing to monitor things such as heart rate and the amount of steps taken during the day. However, this new wellness band not only can just monitor heart rate, distance, etc, but it can actually now determine the individual’s body fat percentage and track the amount of fat lost and gained. Even though it sounds like a great product that could be utilized by people to become more heart healthy when trying to exercise and lose weight, I am curious is to how accurate the device is. Some serious clinical trials and studies will have to be completed before I would recommend this device to patients.

The second device is wearable medical sensor. Basically, this sensor allows for continuous monitor of the individuals pulse and oxygen saturation levels. Not only is the new piece of technology far lese bulky than other pulse oximeters, but is flexible (almost like a Band-Aid) therefore allowing it to be utilized wherever, whenever, and for however long. I think this would give the ability for patients with cardiovascular disease to see how activities affect oxygen demand and if they have heart failure how they can monitor for oxygen insufficiency.

The last device I would like to talk about is called “A Cardiologist in Your Pocket.” I thought this was the neatest piece of technology because it allows doctors and patients to have a stethoscope that will record the individual’s heartbeat and pulse. These sounds and pulses will then be transmitted through Bluetooth into the individual’s mobile phone where then the doctor and individual can listen to them and determine if there is a problem or concern. I like this idea because I think this would be a great application for people who may live in rural communities where medical help is not easily accessible. They can also then send PCP vital information that can be tracked not only giving them the ability to catch problems earlier, but also to watch for certain trends such as declining health etc.

In conclusion, all of these products will continue to advance medicine, but the only concern is how accurate are these new forms of technology? Even though the three devices mentioned above would be beneficial for cardiac patients, they first must all be tested and studied to determine if they are accurate and effective. If you would like to learn more about these devices go check out…

http://latestmedicaltechnology.net/

In researching for this assignment, I came across two articles of interest, one that describes attitudes of geriatric individuals on mobile health technologies in association with warfarin therapy, and the other article sought to determine (through literature review), which telehealth methods were most effective for medication adherence and improving clinical outcomes (Granger & Bosworth, 2011; Lee et al., 2014). These telehealth methods include automated alerts sent through cellphone texting capability to remind patients to take their daily medications, refill reminders, nursing education audio-recorded and sent to patients, and digital medication reconciliation) (Granger & Bosworth, 2011). The reason that I wanted to read both articles is because when we talk about technology, which is easily accessible and somewhat simple to maneuver for many people, there are a few populations that we must consider as we move forward with these up-and-coming technological advancements in nursing education and patient support. 1) Our geriatric patients may be intimidated by unfamiliar technology and as mentioned in the article, require a great deal of support and positive reinforcement from both the healthcare professional and their family in order to be successful and consistent in using telehealth (such as cellphone automated alerts for medication administration reminders, etc.) (Lee et al., 2014). As nurses, we need to be conscientious of individual needs and remember that we feel the same way when we are trying to learn something new. 2) Low-income populations do not have the same access to technology that many of us take for granted; while medication adherence is a significant public health problem due to the prevalence of cardiovascular-related conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and heart failure, individuals without financial means to even purchase their medications may not have the means to own an expensive phone to engage in some of the newer technology that improves medication adherence. Therefore, creativity is needed to reach out to both these populations. The best results in regards to medication adherence and improved clinical outcomes were those that combined mobile reminders and face-to-face interaction; methods that only used mobile phone reminders did not improve adherence or outcomes (Granger & Bosworth, 2011). Therefore, our challenge is to find the best way to help patients gain access both to personal care, and new technology such as automated medication reminders in order to improve their outcomes and quality of life; what is wonderful about nursing is that we can continue to practice in the best of both worlds by incorporating technology into our personal nursing care.

References:

Granger, B. B. & Bosworth, H. (2011). Medication adherence: Emerging use of technology, Current Opinions in Cardiology, 26(4), doi: 10.1097/HCO.0b013e328347c150

Lee, J., Nguyen, A. L., Berg, J., Amin, A., Bachman, M., Guo, Y., & Evangelista, L. (2014). Attitudes and preferences on the use of mobile health technology and health games for self-management: Interviews with older adults on anticoagulation therapy, JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 2(3):e32, doi: 10.2196/mhealth.3196