Advantages and Disadvantages of Telenursing to Patients - Essay Example

Telenursing Introduction In the present day, technology has impacted every aspect of the modern society. In reality, almost every industry has been impacted by the revolution that has been witnessed in the hi-tech industry (Banova, 2013). In the recent years, the role of nurses in tele-health has grown both in breadth and scope. This has necessitated the need for nurses to practice professional standards. For instance, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing made a first publication of the “Telehealth Nursing Practice and Administration and Practice Standards” with an aim to set the expectations among nurses who participated in tele-health practice. This is because nurses who have gone through formal education programs are not capable of providing patients with adequate care through telephone or other remote mechanisms. As a result, nurses should enroll in tele-health courses to enable them deliver optimum services to their clients. In addition, the Nursing Organization Tele-health Committee was established in order to alert nurses on the emerging tele-health issues. This was on a multidisciplinary perspective to allow nurses to handle their tele-nursing roles in a professional manner (AAACN, 2014). Research reveals that tele-nursing is one of the major technological breakthroughs that have been realized in the delivery of healthcare towards patients. Since tele-nursing is part of tele-health, it encompasses various points of contact with various medical and non-medical applications such as tele-consultation, tele-diagnosis and tele-monitoring among others. Tele-nursing has received widespread recognition in various countries around the world as influenced by a variety of factors such as the need to bring down the costs of delivering healthcare, rise in aging and chronically ill patients, and the increase in healthcare coverage with regard to rural, distant, small, as well as the sparsely populated regions (Hughes, 2008). This paper will discuss telenursing concept, its benefits and drawbacks towards patients, especially those with chronic illness. Background Advantages and Disadvantages of Telenursing to Patients There are various advantages and disadvantages associated with the tele-nursing practice, especially, towards those patients who are chronically ill. Advantages Patient consultation is one of the major tasks that are affiliated with nurses. These consultations usually vary from follow-up sessions after a patient has been subjected to a particular procedure to educating the patient, which serves as part of a program that facilitates in the management of a disease, or other complex consultations targeting diagnosis and other treatment mechanisms. The tools that tele-nurses can use in this case comprises of audio, live or still images in order to facilitate for effective communication between nurses and their patients. In addition, the internet has provided patients with a way in which they can connect with nurses from the comfort of their homes. The patients can also visit a remote clinic that has been staffed with nurses, and allow them to connect with physicians who are situated at a distance. Since tele-nursing also connects patients to medical resources that cannot be found in most communities, the patient gains a better understanding on how to manage health better (Banova, 2013). The remote monitoring devices that patients use in their homes can be used to collect, as well as transmit their medical data, which the nurses use to interpret and plan for appropriate medical interventions for the patients. Chronically, ill patients benefit from these technologies since they supplement the visits that they make to hospitals. When nurses monitor patients through remote mechanisms, they are able to minimize the travel times that they make to hospitals, and thus allowing them to save money since they do not incur expenses to travel to see their nurses (Hughes, 2008). Education about the state of health plays a crucial role in terms of allowing patients to learn about their illness. As a result, the patients can be able to facilitate the decision making process, especially, when nurses are unable to identify what the patients are suffering. Additionally, those patients recovering from operations or various types of chronic illnesses are able to take responsibility for self-care because they know that they can get help with the use of phones or via online means (Hughes, 2008). Disadvantages There are setbacks that are associated with the telenursing practice. For instance, patients usually feel that they have lost the personal connection with specialists that are in charge of taking care of their health. This is the case as it is difficult for many people to understand or accept the transitioning process from interpersonal contact into a system of care that is dependent on technology (Banova, 2013). A registered nurse is trained to use patients’ senses, and remain observant to their surroundings in order to identify the illness that they are suffering. For instance, a simple scent is sufficient in terms of allowing a nurse to detect a bacterial infection. Also, through hearing or observing particular mannerisms to a patient, a nurse may be able to predict a particular medical issue. However, by using videophones or telephones, these changes are usually altered; thus, making it difficult for a nurse to diagnose a patient appropriately (Hughes, 2008). This is because the computer monitoring equipment does not allow nurses to identify the alter systems that occur naturally to a patient in an appropriate manner. In addition, there are particular intuitions that nurses gather from past experience and other evidence-based practices, which are not possible to implement with the use of a monitor screen. Conclusion The paper has revealed that tele-nursing is one of the major technological breakthroughs that have been realized in the medical field. It is appropriate since it helps nurses to monitor the medical condition of the chronically ill patients remotely. Moreover, it is possible for patients to monitor the condition of their health, and gather sufficient knowledge in ways through which they can care for their own health. In addition, in case patients get ill while, at home, they can be able to seek the assistance of nurses at home by calling them or interacting with them online. This allows patients to save the cost of having to travel to medical institutions to seek for medical attention. Recommendation Though the telenursing practice makes patients lose personal connection with their nurses, it is effective because the services that the nurses deliver are equal to or superior to the ones offered via the traditional nursing practice. In this case, Manuel should accept the tele-nursing position when offered to him as it can allow him to address the conditions of his patients despite the long distance that exists between them. Furthermore, it is not a necessity for Manuel to be close to the patients to address their concerns since he can be able to handle the tasks through remote mechanisms, and in an efficient manner. References AAACN. (2014). Telehealth Nursing Practice. Retrieved from https://www.aaacn.org/telehealth Banova, B. (2013). The Impact of Technology on Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.aimseducation.edu/blog/the-impact-of-technology-on-healthcare/ Hughes, R. G. (2008). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2687/ Read More