Introduction
The adoption of technology within the healthcare sector has played a significant role in improving the quality of services delivered to patients by nurses (Blumenthal, 2009). There is a common belief among individuals that the adoption and implementation of various technologies in healthcare has a potential to reduce the cost of care delivery, improve safety, quality, as well as the efficiency of healthcare (Winkelman, Leonard, & Rossos, 2005).
In spite of this, there are also fears that the use of technology in the nursing profession would lead to adverse events, as well as introduce errors. Such fears are attributable to the fact that more than 5,000 types of medical devices are in use nowadays, implying that it is inevitable to experience device-related problems (Harrison, Koppel, & Bar-Lev, 2007). Nevertheless, the technological use in nursing holds much promise for the sector but can only be successful if some factors are put into consideration. Some of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to increase the efficiency of the use of technology in nursing include poor technology design that contradicts with ergonomic principles and human factors; the lack of an adequate technology implementation plan; inadequate technology influence especially on the environment and patient; as well as the lack of a proper maintenance plan.
Patient Care Technologies
Information technology has played a significant role in the improvement of the healthcare system. The primary focus of the development of technology within healthcare is to enhance care delivery (Harrison et al., 2007). Nowadays, Blumenthal (2009) noted that the complexity of patient care technology has increased leading to the transformation of the conceptualization and delivery of nursing care. Before the adoption and implementation of technology in healthcare, nurses used hearing, smell, touch, and sight senses for the purpose of monitoring the status of patients and detecting any changes in them.
The use of patient care technologies among the nurses provide them with a platform to prevent the occurrence of errors, as well as any other adverse events such as complications immobility, falls, pressure ulcers, or even medication errors (Winkelman et al., 2005). As such, there are numerous benefits that nurses get from the use of technology in their services delivery (Blumenthal, 2009). In spite of this, it is important to take the necessary precautions, since such technology comes with some risks. The efficient use of the available technologies, as well as enhancing knowledge and awareness among users can reduce the adverse effects of patient care technologies.
Examples of Patient Care Technologies
The patient care technologies that have a significant impact on the operations of nurses can be traced between relatively simple to highly sophisticated devices. There are numerous examples of patient care technologies that are used by nurses today. Two examples of patient care technologies are discussed below.
Notably, in the past, nurses used their senses to assess the condition of patients who were suspected to have oxygen problems. However, upon the introduction of technology, various technological devices replaced the unaided senses of nurses as used in the detection and treatment of patients with oxygen problems. One example of patient care technology used nowadays by nurses is the pulse oximetry, which is extensively applicable in the modern health care delivery in the detection of oxygen saturation in patients. As such, the use of pulse oximetry enables nurses to effectively detect a decrease in a patient’s oxygen level before the appearance of any symptoms.
Secondly, nurses are nowadays using the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to provide better health care to patients with different health needs. The availability of the complete as well as accurate health information of patients gives the healthcare providers the platform to offer better medical care to the patients (Blumenthal, 2009). The electronic health records are considered to be important technologies for the improvement of the outcomes of patients (Winkelman et al., 2005). This is attributable to the fact that such records are very useful in the diagnosis of patients and hence, nurses can identify the problems of any patient easier than they would before the introduction of the electronic health records.
On the other hand, the use of the electronic health records helps the nurses to minimize errors, improve the safety of the patients, as well as offer the necessary support to enhance the patients’ healthcare outcomes. This is achieved because the EHRs are not meant for the transmission of information only; they are designed in a way that they can compute, as well as manipulate such information to identify any problems in the case of a new medical prescription (Winkelman et al., 2005). As such, the healthcare providers are notified of any conflict that might arise following a given prescription.
Practical Experience
Experiences of the impact of patient care technologies are common nowadays. One significant practical experience where the concept of patient care technologies affected me was during a routine follow-up on an elderly patient with diabetes and hypertension. After analyzing the clinical rules, I noted that the patient was due for a routine colonoscopy, a lipid profile, a PSA measurement, as well as measurement of hemoglobin a1c. While such information is accessible from an old-fashioned paper chart, it would take more time to arrive at the list containing the required test items. On the other hand, I noted that the patent was not having optimal control of his blood pressure. As such, using the electronic health records I was in a position to click on each of the required tests for the purpose of generating an order for each one.
One positive aspect of this experience is that in less than one minute, I had made an order of all the required tests and concentrated on the patient’s blood pressure. On the other hand, one negative aspect of this experience was that I was not in a position to electronically provide the laboratory results to the patient due to a failure in the online portal. Such problem could have been improved through “workarounds,” or even temporary fixing of problems or malfunctions of technology.
Conclusion
According to the analysis above, the use of patient care technologies has revolutionized the delivery of care, improved the quality of nursing services, security, as well as the patients’ outcomes. In spite of the significance of using such technologies in care delivery, there are adverse consequences that require being addressed. To sufficiently address the mediating and moderating factors associated with the use of various technologies in healthcare, collaboration across several disciplines is needed. However, with the high use of the patient care technologies among medical providers nowadays, it is more likely that many more technologies are yet to be introduced in the future while others get refined. As such, the concept of patient care technologies has a positive influence on the nursing profession and care delivery in that it provides insights into the technologies available to improve the outcomes of patients.
References
Blumenthal, D. (2009). Stimulating the adoption of health information technology. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(15), 1477-1479.
Harrison, M. I., Koppel, R., & Bar-Lev, S. (2007). Unintended consequences of information technologies in health care—an interactive sociotechnical analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 14(5), 542- 549.
Winkelman, W. J., Leonard, K. J., & Rossos, P. G. (2005). Patient-perceived usefulness of online electronic medical records: Employing grounded theory in the development of information and communication technologies for use by patients living with chronic illness. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 12(3), 306-314.