Nursing401

Technology is constantly growing and changing the way we do things as nurses for the purpose of improving patient care and outcomes. I think technology advances are wonderful in the healthcare setting and something all healthcare providers need to embrace for the benefits of our patients. For me as a nurse this means I need to stay educated and engaged in what’s going on and to not be afraid of accepting change in the workplace. My hospital recently began scanning patients’ wrist bands and medications to minimize medication errors and this has proven to be beneficial. As far as technology relating to assessment, once these applications become more mainstream our patient’s will address their health issues with us and most likely refer to their mobile devices to give us history on their health status and conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the $200 iPhone case that turns your phone into an EKG monitor to prevent incidences of stroke which shows technology aiding in managing care at home. A Canadian randomized clinical trial found that AF was diagnosed five more times in patients that wore special monitors for 30 days than for those who underwent 24 hour testing, the American Heart Association also supports the prolonged EKG monitoring. The pros to technology are advances in patient outcomes, the cons are protecting patient privacy with all of the data that’s collected. So far I’ve seen technology for patient education being provided through the television sets in each room that provide videos on a diagnosis specific to each patient. I’ve also seen technology used such as iPods providing translation services. As nurses we need to make sure that we utilize and practice the best research out there and that means embracing technology for improving patient outcomes.