The role of the nurse is an ever increasing scope. I am close to entering only my fourth year as an RN and in this short time have seen numerous responsibilities placed upon our RN’s that were not previously there. Unfortunately, the fore mentioned responsibilities mainly consist of documentation that keep the hospital in compliance with JACHO, OSHA, and maintain Magnet status, NOT bedside nursing interventions. Most of these committees are present to keep hospitals in check and make sure they adhere to patient safety guidelines. However, as we add these additional items that require daily documentation (ie: falls risk, elopement risk, etc), we are pulling the RN farther and farther from the bedside! I pose the question, how does this increase patient safety?
Tags: Health Care Informatics Accreditation, Healthcare Informatics, Healthcare Informatics Resources
Healthcare Informatics Resources 
October 7, 2013 at 8:14 pm |
There are a lot of companies now who have an on-call physician or nurse where the patient can reach after hours. As an on-call nurse, I know and understand the importance of having someone available to discuss medical conditions with. Even though technology seems to be taking over and will be the forefront of medicine, there is nothing like a professional being presence and giving that face to face encounter with patients. Patients need professionalism, courteous and reassurance from a friendly voice that they are alright.
October 7, 2013 at 8:13 pm |
Technology is making it so easy to do so many things. Being able to contact your physician or nurse through e-mail or a website allows you to contact them at your convenience and them to get back to you at theirs. This keeps you from waiting on the phone or leaving a voicemail that they might not even check. Being sick for over a year now I personally know how frustrating it is to contact your physician and wait a long period of time for a response. Patients want to know that their physician or nurse actually care about the problems and symptoms they are having. If technology allows us another option for contacting them why not use it? Just my opinion.
October 7, 2013 at 8:12 pm |
According to Shi & Singh, medical technology is the practical application of the scientific body of knowledge for the purpose of improving health and creating efficiencies in the delivery of health care (Shi & Singh, pg. 161). Technology is forever growing in the healthcare field. Some would argue that using computers will interrupt that face to face encounter with patients, and nurses are concentrating more on the computers than the patient. With practice and experience, a nurse should be able to do both and realize that technology is used to eliminate errors in administering the wrong medication to patients.
Reference:
Shi, L. Singh, D. (2012). Delivering Health Care in America A Systems Approach (5th Ed.). Burlington, MA. Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.