The Use of Technology to Assist in Nursing Care and Patient Safety

Abstract

The nursing profession is among the top rewarding fields in the world. However, it is also among the most complex and challenging profession due to the exhaustion that it causes physically and emotionally. With these challenges, the medical profession has projected a possible shortage of registered nurses in the next five years. The willingness of nurses who are prepared to stay on guard of their patients has decreased despite the increase in demand for nursing care. The workflow inefficiencies that arise in most hospitals ought to be addressed by deploying new technological solutions. Therefore, the changing technology must have nothing short of the equipment of health sectors with the aim of improving nursing services. This paper covers emerging technologies that have played a significant role in changing the nursing practice as far as the patient welfare is concerned. The integration of new technologies has become a major goal in the development of the strategic plans of modern medical institutions (Huston, 2013).

 The Use of Technology to Assist in Nursing Care and Patient Safety

The introduction of informatics in healthcare systems today is a primary foundation of most medical institutions. The modernization of these systems have advanced the service delivery, and patient safety compares to the technologies used in previous years. The need for the computerization of healthcare acted as a driving force that guaranteed the evolution of computers for the benefit of medical institutions. According to Cassano (2014), computer programs have been developed over the past decade with the aim of improving the clinical processes.

The improvement of the patient care systems has been the primary focus of technology experts. The need to equip new concepts and knowledge to the patient care systems have been the driving force towards the creation and implementation of new technologies in the healthcare system. The advancement of computers never took root in the clinical until the 21st century when hospitals decided to automate both the administration and clinical processes. Several departments in the healthcare institutions saw the need of introducing new technologies so as to speed up service delivery with the aim of providing better outcomes in their respective fields.

The use of automated systems kicked off in health institution especially in the pharmacy, laboratory, and radiology departments. The introduction of these technologies has changed many health systems worldwide since it has created new opportunities for many industries. By recognizing the need to improve the communication between healthcare practitioners and the information technology workforces, the healthcare industry has designed ways to address patient care issues. This ranges from the introduction of informatics in the nursing profession to the equipment of most medical institutions with a state of the art patient care systems (Wood, 2013).

Nursing informatics, therefore, has evolved to be the most integral part of the healthcare systems since it is the deciding factor in the evaluation, selection and the implementation of several technological systems in the nursing industry. It is responsible for identifying high-quality patient-centered technologies that are safe for patients and the health practitioners. The nursing informatics is also supposed to manage and assess data and information that are being applied in the nursing practice (Cassano, 2014).

Most practitioners in the healthcare associate nursing informatics to a specialist who creates and facilitates the implementation of new technology, and a clinician who uses them. With this in mind, a good number of medical institutions have integrated medical prescribing machines, mobile laboratories and online appointment systems that go hand-in-hand in improving patient care. The introduction of this systems is a guarantee of the improvement of services to the general public if these systems are managed and implemented well. Therefore, medical institutions have strived to synchronize their informatics nurses with technical information that govern the clinical processes responsible for efficient and safe patient care.

Healthcare professionals face a lot of challenges that are related to the rapid complication of patients’ health conditions. Admitted patients mostly may not be able to receive maximum care especially when nurses are busy moving from one patient to another. Therefore, several hospitals record premature patient deaths that are caused by injuries due to patient falls. To prevent this, a wireless patient monitoring technology that can detect rapid changes in the patient health have been developed. The monitoring technology can be attached to the patient’s bed and can capture important details that include the patient’s blood pressure, weight, body movements and their heart rate during sleep (Cassano, 2014).

The sensor of this wireless monitoring technology is usually connected to the communication system that is responsible for alerting the respective nurse in case the patient’s condition deteriorates (Quan, 2013). Its integration can help to reduce the number of accidental falls and hence reduce premature deaths in any healthcare institution. However, the increasing wireless devices in the hospital's vicinity may interfere the operation of this technology. Therefore, it is imperative to design ways of avoiding these interferences that may harm the patient’s wellbeing.

Also, there is the use of interactive technology between the patients and their nurses. The technology is responsible for streamlining the patient’s interaction as far as their medication and care interventions are concerned. The nursing industry uses this technology to remind patients of the importance of completing their doses and showing up for checkups. The patients, on the other hand, can document their improvements and send common signs that could be used by their doctors to gauge their improvements (Lavin, Harper & Barr, 2015. The integration of this technology to all medical institutions can help a lot in ensuring continuous patient safety, especially during the treatment period.

The United States government since the year 2004 have pushed for the adoption of an interoperable electronic record system. However, nurses still argue that existing system is unable to interface itself automatically with other hospital application. It demands multiple logins so that it can allow them to enter or retrieve records. The nurses, therefore, call tirelessly for an integrated care system that would help to reduce their heavy workload and save time. Therefore the need to have a convenient information system will be an added advantage both to the nurses and patients.

Moreover, other technologies are responsible for ensuring patient’s safety as well as providing up-to-date information. The use of computer chips that typically respond to a specified range of set parameters has helped in guaranteeing safe patient care. The technology is referred to as a smart technology since it performs intelligent tasks related to what a person does (Lavin, Harper & Barr, 2015). They include the use of IV pumps and smart cards. Smart cards are used to gather and store relevant patient information that helps to provide a safe care to the said individual. The information collected on these smart cards can help patients during natural disasters since information in them cannot be destroyed.

Additionally, Barcode technology is also among the technologies aimed at improving patient’s safety. It is used in healthcare institutions in conjunction with medication systems to prescribe medicine to the patients hence reducing the possibility of errors, especially when dealing with many patients at a time (Wood, 2013). The Barcode technology is used further for equipment distribution and other supply processes.

Moreover, a radio frequency identification technology is also employed in the nursing industry to track and locate items that are required by the patients. The technology helps to save time that could have been used to hunt manually for these items. Also, the use of robotic systems in the medical industry helps in the distribution of supplies, specimens and other delicate equipment due to their ability to do exactly what is programmed. They help to provide a safe environment for the patients since there is no room for errors in the treatments.

Finally, there is the use of decision support systems to mimic the decision process of medical experts and later help other nurses to make safer decisions in the absence of the experts. These systems can also be used in other lower medical institutions to help in the prescription of drugs since they act according to the information they have acquired from experienced practitioners (Quan, 2013). They may also prescribe drugs to patients independently especially during the night and on holidays when fewer resources are at the institution's disposal.

Efficient use of the above technologies in any healthcare facility can help a lot in ensuring patient safety due to the improvement of nursing services. Therefore, it is of great importance to include nurses not only in the testing of new technologies but also in the designing of these new technologies. By involving them, they can be able to highlight how the technology is to be developed so as to address most of the challenges that they face in their profession. Most nurses possess unique information that can help a lot that can help to address issues relating to the limited usage of work patterns in the nursing industry.

The use of smart and portable technologies in the healthcare industry ensures an accurate share of information between the patients and their doctors. It saves a lot of resources including time and eliminates other health related wastages by guaranteeing an efficient environment for all stakeholders.

Nurses need to be able to have information about the patients they are supposed to attend to twelve hours earlier. The technology, therefore, has to be able to provide this information to a hand-held device that will guide the nurses and inform them of individual appointments and other tasks related to their work. It should also be able to notify them of completed test results of specific patients so as to ensure efficient service delivery.

  

References

Huston, C. (2013). The Impact of Emerging Technology on Nursing Care: Warp Speed Ahead. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18. Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-18-2013/No2-May-2013/Impact-of-Emerging-Technology.html.

Cassano, C. (2014). The Right Balance –Technology and Patient Care. Himis, 18. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://www.himss.org/ResourceLibrary/GenResourceDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=33541.

Lavin, M. A., Harper, E. & Barr, N. (2015). Health Information Technology, Patient Safety, and Professional Nursing Care Documentation in Acute Care Settings. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 20. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-20-2015/No2-May-2015/Articles-Previous-Topics/Technology-Safety-and-Professional-Care-Documentation.html.

Quan, K. (2013). Technology in Nursing Practice Improves Patient Care. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from https://www.fortis.edu/blog/nursing/technology-in-nursing-practice-improves-patient-care/id/2889.

Wood, D. (2013). How Technology is Helping Nurses Build Patient Engagement. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/How-Technology-is-Helping-Nurses-Build-Patient-Engagement_41740.aspx.