Technology and Patient Care
EKG monitoring through a person’s iphone to prevent stroke sound like a great invention that I may personally use one day since Afib runs in my family. Raney Linck is right in his blog about nurses needing to step up to the challenge…the changing technology in healthcare challenge (2014). I agree that we are going to have to increase our knowledge of the upcoming tools and resources that will impact our patient’s lives. I believe society will continue to increase their spending on quick and easy access to apps, devices, and biometric measuring tools, like the now common Fitbit, to improve their health. As nurses are educators and advocates, we must be prepared by expanding our own knowledge of technological health tools.
Mental health issues continue to affect society and finally people are starting to open up about specific mental health concerns that they are experiencing. People are looking for ways to overcome their personal problems by watching television shows like Dr. Oz, surfing the internet, and asking healthcare providers. New interventions like mobile health sensors along with therapy may be the answer to help those that are struggling with diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or PTSD.
Along with verbal, demonstration, and multiple printed educational handouts that we use in the NICU at St. John’s Regional Medical Center to educate our babies caregivers, we also use educational videos on a tablet. Caregivers can choose to watch multiple videos about NICU baby care on our unit’s tablet at their baby’s bedside or they can access the website from anywhere by logging on to http://www.yournicubabynow.com and using our hospital’s password 02557. This free website contains a video library in English and Spanish and also contains many helpful articles in the parent resource section. The education provided by leading Neonatologists and neonatal nurses on this website, in my opinion, is a great informative and helpful tool for caregivers of NICU babies (The Wellness Network, 2015).
Linck, R. (2014, August 1). MHealth: What do we do with all the data? [Web blog post]. Retrieved from http://digitaltrendsinnursing.blogspot.com
The Wellness Network (2015). Your nicu baby. Retrieved from http://www.yournicubabynow.com
