Nursing and Technology

What is your experience with the way technology is changing nursing theory and practice?

Technology is advancing health care services delivery is so many ways. The diagnostic technology has allowed more noninvasive processes to assist in diagnosis for our patients, we must celebrate this. Technology is allowing patients to see their health care team without leaving their home, that is a huge benefit for so many people. For people who live in rural and remote areas, for seniors, for patients who have limited access to transportation this is such a significant investment and the benefit of this is difficult to measure. Virtual emergency rooms are popping up across the country mostly because of staff shortages, however the verdict on them remains to be seen. In our area we trialed virtual ER this past summer, and while the staff felt supported and the technology worked, some of the feedback was that the hands on assessment and the humanity was missing.

Nursing as a profession pride itself on caring, building the relationships, use of touch plus so many other elements that makes nursing the great profession that it is. Technology removes human interaction, its hard to use touch through a camera lens, its difficult to read relationships with the time lag and connectivity issues that exist in the technology world. Glauser,W. (2017), speaks of the efficiencies that tech can bring to nursing, and that part of the work will allow nurses to spend more time with the patient, so this benefit of technology will be welcomed by nurses. Nurses will rally around any addition to their work life than can improve care, and will quickly get behind any technology that benefits the patient. In my experiences nurses will not support any technology that takes them away from the patient. It will be important for future health leaders to understand the balance of both worlds.

GLAUSER, W. (2017). Artificial Intelligence, Automation and the Future of Nursing: Technological change is already shaking up the profession. What is your relationship with technology going to be? Canadian Nurse, 113(3), 24–26.