NURS-FPX 5005 Introduction to Nursing Research, Ethics, and Technology
Analysis of Technology in Nursing Practice
This paper explores various dimensions of patient care technology, encompassing its applications, advantages, and challenges. Among the myriad technologies pertinent to patient care, this study centers on electronic health records (EHRs) and their implications for patient care and nursing practice, encompassing their utility, benefits, limitations, as well as ethical and regulatory considerations.
Effects of Technology on Patient Care and Nursing Practice
Electronic health records (EHRs), defined as digitized repositories of patients’ medical data accessible through healthcare organizations’ computer systems or mobile devices, serve as guardians of comprehensive medical histories. These histories encompass diagnostic information, treatment plans, allergies, infections, laboratory findings, billing details, radiology images, vaccination records, and physical and mental health indicators, such as blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and pulse oximetry (Grewal et al., 2019).
Effects on Patient Care
EHRs expedite and enhance patient treatment by enabling nursing staff to swiftly discern patients’ needs, thereby facilitating more effective clinical interventions (Abul-Husn & Kenny, 2019). EHRs systematically aggregate and disseminate patient data to all caregivers, ensuring comprehensive information sharing.
Effects on Nursing Practice
Nursing professionals perceive EHRs as tools to contextualize patient data and facilitate interprofessional communication, particularly for patients in critical conditions or under close observation (Wisner et al., 2019). Accessible through a secure portal, EHRs empower nurses to efficiently retrieve patient information, leading to improved intervention planning.
EHRs offer several potential advantages:
However, drawbacks include concerns about malpractice liability, high implementation costs, and potential decreases in overall productivity (Upadhyay & Hu, 2020).
Communication of Data
EHRs facilitate structured and unstructured communication channels. Structured pathways, such as computerized provider entry (CPOE), convey medication and allergy information, while unstructured pathways employ clinical notes (Zhang et al., 2020). Additionally, EHRs contribute to secure communication by integrating encryption algorithms into conventional medical cloud models.
Identifying Criteria to Evaluate Data
EHRs exemplify medical technologies benefiting from the commercialization and development of 5G technology, enabling nurses to communicate with patients via messages, emails, or phone calls from anywhere. Healthcare organizations establish online portals to engage patients, particularly those from remote areas, collecting and evaluating patient data before disseminating it to the broader medical team (Zhang et al., 2020).
Controls and Safeguards to Maintain Patient Safety and Confidentiality
Modern technologies facilitate patient-staff communication and access to intervention updates while deepening the nursing staff’s understanding of patients’ conditions. Safeguarding data entails granting portal access credentials to relatives or family members of patients with mental or visual impairments (Lee, 2017). Privacy concerns necessitate open dialogues with patients to prevent unauthorized data use. Proper staff training in data storage and monitoring is essential to ethically optimize patient health information within EHRs.
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