Technology and Informatics - Assignment Example

Technology can be helpful in maximizing the significance of nursing knowledge and ethics is imperative in any nursing care activity. 

Significance of the Use of Technology and Informatics for the Development and Structure of Knowledge

According to Killeen and King (2007), the use of technology and informatics will enable interdisciplinary communication. In contemporary society, individuals from different specialties and technology will offer nursing care and this will help make the individual contributions of these people harmonious and complementary. In addition, technology will help in the efficient documentation, management, and processing of data and information. On another level, it will provide quick access to the documented data and information in order to aid in making nursing care decisions. It will provide a convenient framework for evaluating nursing interventions.

An example of an instance where informatics can help in the development and structure of knowledge is in the electronic medical recording. Electronic medical records avail a comprehensive medical history of a patient from which healthcare providers can view and use the information documented by healthcare providers who have attended to the patient in the past. 

Ethics

In tackling the PICO question, there will be a need to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the information that participants will provide. Disclosing or letting the information leak to unintended persons can end up in undesirable outcomes due to its inappropriate use. In addition, it will be imperative to uphold patient safety because nursing has a mandate not to cause harm to patients. The research endeavor will seek to contribute uniquely to the practice of nursing (Simpson, 2006).

A Nursing Experience that was Difficult from an Ethical Viewpoint

I once encountered a patient who had been involved in a gruesome road accident. After a few days of hospitalization and continued examination, we realized that the accident had paralyzed the patient. After sharing the information with the patient’s family, the family pled with us not to tell the patient the prognosis because they believed it would affect him. The ethical dilemma was deciding whether to grant the family’s plea or to honor the patient’s right to know the outcomes of our examination. Although we managed to convince the family that we would help the patient to handle the truth and start physiotherapy to rehabilitate his mobility, the dilemma was difficult to resolve.

Systematization of interdisciplinary communication is one of the significant technology used in nursing knowledge development and structure. Ethical consideration is crucial in the delivery of nursing care.