Digital Technology in Healthcare

Digital technology is increasingly playing an important role in facilitating the delivery of patient care, with everything from electronic health records to phone applications that allow health care providers to quickly research a disease or look up side effects to a new diabetic medication, for example.  As someone that embraces technology, I have always incorporated it into my nursing career.  As a nursing student, I always had my drug guide, lab book, and Taber’s Encyclopedia—among other applications—on my smart phone for easy access which saved time, especially during clinical rotations, and significantly reduced my stress level.  Currently, I use several mobile applications, including epocrates, to help manage and educate my Hepatitis C patients and ensure my warfarin patients maintain therapeutic INR levels.

There are, however, drawbacks to the new digital era, such as ineffective staff training regarding new electronic health records and equipment. In 2011, a nurse, who misunderstood a confusing pop-up on a new glucometer, accidentally administered insulin to a hypoglycemic patient, causing the patient to go into a diabetic coma (Rice, 2014).  In 2013, a hospitalized patient did not receive his psychiatric medication for three weeks, as the computer system was programmed to discontinue certain medications after a predetermined time (Rice, 2014).   These examples point to the importance of effective staff training, given different individual learning curves and willingness to adapt to change. Rice (2014) suggests the implementation of a national surveillance system for reporting technological problems to help other healthcare providers learn from previous experiences, which would result in better integration of new technologies.  Despite these setbacks, it is crucial to adapt to the digital era, as digital technology will continue to flourish and impact the medical field in the years to come.

Reference:

Rice, S. (2014). New medical technology poses safety problems if users not trained properly. Modern Healthcare. Retrieved   from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140816