The Impact of Technology on Nursing - Research Paper Example

Nursing al Affiliation) The Impact of Technology on Nursing The face of contemporary healthcare is changing rapidly, prompting the argument that the nursing practice will revolutionize with the advancements that the technology world is currently undergoing. The healthcare sector is the biggest beneficiary of the technology changes that are transforming the world at a fast rate. This article defines the emerging technologies that are already redefining the nursing practice (Howard, 2011). These technologies will have an impact on the international healthcare system. The Genomics and genetics technology is already being implemented in the medical grounds for various purposes. This technology identifies the mutations of genes that expose a person to the development of chronic illnesses (American Association for Cancer Research, 2012). Genetics also identifies the carrier status, and diagnose certain uteri conditions. The medical professionals encounter patients who visit health facilities requiring treatment with their genetic sequencing and genotyping at hand. The availability of genetic data empowers the patients, and enhances better health care. The challenge that the nursing fraternity face with the introduction of the genetic technology is the education (American Association for Cancer Research, 2012). Most of the nurses in the current nursing practice have little or no knowledge about the genomics and genetics, hence lacking the required competence for delivery of effective counseling and the discharge of knowledge to the relevant patients. Contrary to the above concerns, the technology of genetic sequencing and genotyping continues to improve the interventional medicine by improving the diagnostics of nursing. (American Association for Cancer Research, 2012) The introduction of more accurate but less invasive tools in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases has changed the nursing practice. The emergence of technologies that test the existence of heart disease, monitoring the amount of blood sugar and the use of magnets to treat depression has transformed the outlook of nursing (Kelland, 2012). The use of scanning technology to identify the hard and soft body tissues is extensively important in the elimination of exploratory surgeries that inflict pain on patients in the process of determining the genesis of an illness (Miliard, 2012). These scans also detect the spread of chronic diseases faster than the x ray imaging. Despite the medical advances that come with the more accurate diagnosis tools, the challenge that the nurses face is in the use of the technology. These technologies are rolled out a fast pace in the nursing field, with each year coming with innovations to the previous technologies. This poses the challenge of mastering the working structures of these technologies, hence hindering the competency of nurses. 3D printing is a technique that uses the microscopic layers to build objects, by fusing the cross sections of the components’ molecules together until a whole object forms (Pellet, 2013, para. 2). This technology relies on a 3D scanner, and a 3D bio printer, which prints the progress of the object formation through addition of layers of materials of ceramics, metal, glass, or plastics. This technology is important in making the body a system operating with interchangeable parts (Pellet, 2013, para. 9). This technology enables human organs to be transplanted, by creating the replaceable tissues and organs in a three dimensional structure. The healthcare sector is continuously exploring the limits to which this technology is applicable. The materials that involve the implementation of this technology in the human body are harmful, and can be fatal if the system fails to accept the new technology (Kelland, 2012). This technology is also complicated and too complex for the understanding of many patients and nurses, making it slower to transform the face of nursing and Medicare provision (Pellet, 2013, para. 13). Robotic technology is rampant in the world, with the machinery manufacturing plants being the largest beneficiaries of this technological facelift (Isaacson, 2012). The robots impact in the nursing practice is increasingly on the rise, as the ability of robotics to provide diagnostic services is unquestionable. This technology has proven to be more comfortable and less invasive to the patients who have tested the experience. The robotics has the exclusive ability to provide and perform smaller and precise interventions. This technology further can be used as care providers, especially in the provision of mental and physical care (Isaacson, 2012). The impact of the robotics on the nursing field is an emerging trend that substitutes the workforce shortages experienced in the professional nursing field. This technology elevates the quality of health care, perhaps to a level that exceeds human limitations. The areas of medicine that benefit from the robotics technology include bio mechatronics, nan-medicine, and the general use of robots in the provision of direct care (Isaacson, 2012). The comparative effectiveness of the robotics technology is the subject to further research, as human care provision is the sole constituent that makes patients have the feeling of affection (Huston, 2014). The lack of emotional attachment to the patient by the robots slows the process of recovery, as the robots do not offer the much-needed compassion that the human caregivers offer to the patients. The biometric technology is fundamental in the increase of confidentiality and security of the healthcare information. With the use of this technology, health facilities evade and eliminate the costs that accrue with the management of lost passwords. This technology continuously transforms the healthcare environment (Cipriano, 2011). This technology also restricts the staff members to access only the information relevant to their jobs. This technology uses fingerprints, dynamic signatures, handprints, palm vein prints, retinal scans, and facial structures to identify people. This technology has registered strides in the criminal investigations department, and its introduction to the healthcare environment is positive in the provision of medical record security (Huston, 2014). The shortcomings of this technology make it misused in situations that are not ideal for its application. Besides, the technology is costly to implement in a workforce that is constantly changing. In addition to the technologies that have restructured the face of nursing, the use of electronic healthcare records is critical (Howard, 2011). This enables the providers of healthcare to have exclusive access to the patient records. These systems are efficient, and work round the clock to enhance the better coordination of treatment of critical conditions (Miliard, 2012). This technology employs the use of highly efficient computers, with the information wired to all the computers in the health facility (Miliard, 2012). Despite the use of this technology to improve efficiency, the implementation of this technology is expensive. A crash in the operation of the computers can cause paralysis in the operation of nurses. The CPOE technology is a clinically fundamental component in reducing the cost of healthcare. Computerized Physician Order Entry (Cipriano, 2011) enables the nurses to write the patient requirements on electronic devices. Previously, patient orders were written on paper, a trend that contributed to inefficiency, as orders were not clearly typed. This technology improves the efficiency in the healthcare provision, minimizing the errors of misinterpretation of medication that arise from inaccurate transcription. The CPOE technology gives health care providers the vital clinical decision support through the support in diagnostic decisions (Huston, 2014). This technology equips the nurses with advanced clinical knowledge that determine the actions of the nurses based on the additional knowledge. This technology is critical in reducing operational costs by reducing medically related errors (Cipriano, 2011). It further encourages interventions based on the best practices and evidence. CPOE is a great technological milestone in the medical practice. Despite this, the technology is criticized for its role in encouraging nurses to alter their core practice responsibility. It encourages sluggishness and laziness amongst the nurses, while discouraging the need for research and innovations to offer improvised cures (Kelland, 2012). The training and implementation costs are significantly high as well. This makes it slow due to the resistance attributed to the amount of time used in the process of entering patient orders. The technological facelifts have an outright impact on the trends applied in the provision of healthcare (Howard, 2011). The balancing of human effort against the impact of technology limits the speed at which technology is incorporated in the health sector. The cost of technology is relative to the benefits that technology creates in the nursing fraternity. Despite this, it makes treatment more efficient and accurate. References American Association for Cancer Research. (2012). AACR cancer progress report 2012. Cipriano, P. F. (2011). The future of nursing and health IT: The quality elixir. Nursing Economics, 29 (5), 286-289, 282. Howard, B. (2011). Medicine’s bright future. AARP. 61-66. Huston, C. (2014). Technology in the health care workplace: Benefits, limitations, and challenges In Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities (3rd Ed). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins Isaacson, B. (2012, November 20) Mind control: How EEG devices will read your brain waves and change your world. Huffington Post. Kelland, K. (2012, March 1). Super-human brain technology sparks ethics debate. Reuters Miliard, M. (2012, April 24). Meaningful use still a challenge despite strides, say hospitals Pellet, J. (2013). How 3D printing works. T. Rowe Price Read More