Nurse Technology: Going Mobile and Virtual
By Allan Robinson, contributor
Within the past 10 years, multiple advances in technology have been created to help nurses perform at their peak and better care for their patients. Two forms of nurse technology have already begun excelling at this and are expanding into other areas where there is a need.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a type of nurse technology that’s rapidly changing bedside nursing.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses says that it recently conducted a survey of 1,213 nurses regarding their opinions on the use of telemedicine in an intensive care unit (teleICU). The results indicated that 79.2 percent felt that teleICU provided an opportunity to improve patient care, and 63.6 percent indicated that it could also improve their nursing job performance.
The AACN also has a session at an upcoming conference that will discuss the use of teleICU to improve the delivery of care in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
Mobile Devices
Mobile devices aren’t new technology in themselves, but some of the ways in which they’re now being used are.
This form of nurse technology lets nurses track and manage patients, according to Johnson & Johnson. These mobile apps are especially helpful for extending healthcare services to underserved communities. They can also help patients manage chronic diseases by reminding them to take medication.
Drug reference books provide another use of mobile devices in bedside nursing. These books are extremely thick, making them particularly inconvenient for traveling nurses. Drug references are now available for download at no charge to many healthcare professionals, including versions specifically designed for small displays. This capability allows nurses to carry all their medical references in their pockets.
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