Nursing Informatics and Telehealth - Research Paper Example

Nursing Informatics and Telehealth Introduction The modernity of the present times has allowed high-technology procedures to be incorporated into health care. The development of health informatics over the years has proven to help in reducing costs and increasing patient safety. Nursing informatics has been specifically developed to enhance the practice and help nurses improve care. Additionally, telehealth has paved the way for more convenient and efficient healthcare provision, including nursing care, especially in the presence of several problems in the health care delivery system and accessibility. The crossing of nursing informatics and telehealth has created telenursing, an avenue to aid existing health delivery problems and enhance practice. Nursing Informatics Graves and Corcoran defined nursing informatics (NI) as “a combination of nursing science, information science, and computer science to manage and process nursing data, information, and knowledge to facilitate the delivery of health care,” (as cited in McGonigle & Mastrian, 2009, p. 88). Nurses play important roles as communicators in health care facilities. Through nursing informatics, there is increased communication and documentation enhancement. It is a convenient system which comprises set standards to assure quality nursing care. Through these information systems, collaborative efforts within the health team are easier in order to provide optimum client management. Nursing informatics has been included in new nursing education curriculum to acquaint students, and there are also institutions which have specializes courses for such. Through these preparations, they would become competent in information technology (IT) that is a growing trend in hospitals and other settings today. Telehealth Telehealth is defined by Picot as “the use of communications and information technology to deliver health and healthcare services and information over large and small distances” (as cited in Hannah, Ball, & Edwards, 2006, p. 119). It evolved as a result of the convergence of telecommunications and information and technology, continuously advancing in the influence of several factors. Telehealth care has been used to fill the gaps in in-person health care delivery. It has provided changes in care provision in different areas to help solve the problems of the present health care system. Telehealth technologies also have both clinical and nonclinical uses. Few clinical uses for telehealth technologies include transmitting images for assessment and diagnosis, transmitting clinical data for assessment, diagnosis, or disease management, providing disease prevention and promotion of good health, using telephonic health advice in emergent cases, and using real time video (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2009, p. 290). These can be applied in numerous cases, from health education down to consultation and management. Clinical application of such technologies is seen to greatly benefit the client and the care providers as well. Telehealth technologies are also used in nonclinical settings. For instance, distance learning through such technology is now offered by several academic institutions around the globe. Conferences among telehealth workers can also be done, as well as information gathering and data management. Telenursing: Nursing informatics in Telehealth When nurses use telehealth technology in providing care to patients, the term “telenursing” comes into place, which is defined by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) as “the use of telecommunications technology in nursing to enhance patient care; involves the use of electromagnetic channels to transmit voice, data, and video communication signals” (as cited in American Telemedicine Associtation [ATA], n.d.). This modernization has changed the delivery of nursing care and interventions to certain clients. The presence of telenursing has given impact to several areas in practice of the field, and seeing its benefits, nursing organizations have expressed their encouragement in the use of such technologies. Both informatics nurses and telenurses are now seen as rising nursing opportunities that could improve the practice. Several universities and colleges have integrated informatics in their curriculum, and offer courses that specialize such. Formal education, rather than mere on-the-job trainings, regarding the field is highly encouraged because it is seen to be complex and undergoing several changes. This is one example of how the telehealth industry is affected by nursing informatics. Several hospitals nowadays have telemonitoring equipments, bedside terminals, and automated clinical records being used by nurses, with systems varying depending on the complexity of the unit, needs of the patients, and the resources of the hospital (Griffin, 2010, p. 109). Telemonitoring equipments help in careful watch of the patient’s vital signs, cardiovascular function, and other conditions, which may be coupled with alarm systems to alert the nurse in cases of changes. Bedside terminals allow nurse-patient interaction, where the former can retrieve patient’s clinical data using computer terminals (pp. 109-110). Because these are integrated with hospital systems, collaborative care is improved and patient data can be utilized by other members of the team. The reason why telenursing attracts much attention is because it becomes a solution to dilemmas experienced in the practice. For instance, the shortage of nurses in the United States is not a new concern. Through the telehealth industry, nurses can provide care to more clients, without having to do in-person management. Clients with the technology at home are monitored in the hospital and in cases of changes in his condition, nurses are alerted and thus may give timely intervention. When early problems are detected, there are lesser tendency for complications, and may save the patient from expensive health cost. Another case is the increased percentage of the population with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. With telehealth technology in the home, these clients would save the time to travel to the hospital for consultation and follow-up care. Monitoring can be done at home, and hospital visits would only be needed in severe cases. Effken and Abbott (2009) present in their paper the “strong roles that nursing can play in using information technology (IT) to improve health care delivery in rural areas” (p. 439). The authors express that rural communities are oftentimes the victims of inadequate care due to its large population and small number of practicing physicians. However, they point out that needed acute health services in these areas do not mainly concern doctors but include nurses instead. With the use of telehealth and tele-home care technologies, they contend that nurses are capable of developing alternative care models such as nurse-managed and IT-enabled community care (p. 442). In practicing various roles, as educators, change agents, communicators, et cetera, nurses in the community have increased chances to gain the trust of the community members in adhering to this method of health care delivery. Table 1. Uses of Telehealth and Telenursing Telehealth in Clinical Settings Teleheath in Nonclinical Settings Telenursing transmitting images transmitting clinical data providing disease prevention education health-promotive education using telephonic health advice using real time video distance education conferences among telehealth workers emergence of informatics nurses and telenurses formal nursing informatics education telemonitoring tele-home care in communities Conclusion Technology has innovated so many systems in the modern world, that it has invaded even the health care system. The telehealth industry is used in both clinical and nonclinical areas through several ways that would foremost benefit the clients and the health providers as well. Nursing informatics used in the delivery of care has been further enhanced by telehealth, in what is now known as telenursing. Telenursing allows nurses to care for more clients in a lesser amount of time despite distance through telemonitoring and tele-home care in communities. Formal education is also offered by some schools nowadays in order to enhance nursing competency in IT-based patient care. Indeed, the merge of nursing informatics and the telehealth industry changes nursing care delivery to clients, and will continue to change as the field advances. References American Telemedicine Association. (n.d.). Definitions of telehealth nursing/telenursing. Retrieved from http://www.americantelemed.org/files/public/membergroups/nursing/Definitions_of_Telenursing.pdf Effken, J. A., Abbott, P. (2009). Health IT-enabled care for underserved rural populations: The role of nursing. Journal of the American Medical informatics Association, 16 (4), 439-445. Griffin, D. J. (2010). Hospitals: What they are and how they work (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Hannah, K. J., Ball, M. J., & Edwards, M. J. A. (2006). Introduction to nursing informatics (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer. McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2009). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Read More