How Nursing has Changed with Technology
Preface Tr a n s f o r m i n g N u r s i n g P r a c t i c e w i t h Te c h n o l o g y
Maria Overstreet, PhD, RN Editor
Several facets of nursing practice are constants. Two such facets that have not changed over time are nurses as patient advocates as well as nurses practicing the art of caring. In some areas of nursing practice, especially in the delivery of state-ofthe-art bedside nursing care, changes have evolved. The availability of technology at the bedside has been instrumental in these changes. For example, nurse educators have begun to change educational methods to engage students, nurses in current practice, as well as patients, families, and even communities. In this issue, you will hear from nursing experts about their research, quality improvement projects, and personal experiences regarding changes in the delivery of nursing care. Nursing experts will describe how the use of technology has changed their practice, how technology has improved patient discharge into the outpatient setting, how monitoring of patients has improved with technology, and how technology has made it easier to educate, use survey tools, and implement quality improvement projects. These experts will also warn us about using technology just because we can. You will read about a project by Mullins, who warns about the simple task of blood pressure monitoring with an obese population and the implications for nurse anesthetists perioperatively. You will also be intrigued by the creativity of some of the reports of nursing quality improvement projects implemented easily due to the changes in technology. I believe this issue is important for all nurses to read, and I believe the adoption of new technological advancements is now part of the foundation of nursing practice. It is good practice to keep abreast of changes occurring in other disciplines as well as in our own so that we may apply others’ successes to our own specific areas of nursing. Informatics in nursing is a growing field and nursing as a whole must embrace technology and learn to adapt various methods of delivery so that we can appropriately care for and advocate for all our patients.
Nurs Clin N Am 50 (2015) xiii–xiv http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2015.03.010 0029-6465/15/$ – see front matter Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
nursing.theclinics.com
xiv
Preface
We are beginning to see the closing of a circle of care. Our roots began in the home; then we transformed to the acute care setting, and now we are in the beginning stages of transforming back to providing care for the patient and family in the home or community setting because of new advances in technology such as telehealth and ihealth. With the changes in our national health care system, we must encourage all nurses to be entrepreneurial and to incorporate new methods of care delivery as well as encourage ideas of how nursing can improve. I encourage you to engage with the article that resonates with your practice and discuss your thoughts with these expert nurses. You are the success of nursing and you will make a difference! Maria Overstreet, PhD, RN Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia 315 Hospital Drive Madison, TN 37116, USA Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Nashville, TN 37240, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
Preface Tr a n s f o r m i n g N u r s i n g P r a c t i c e w i t h Te c h n o l o g y
Maria Overstreet, PhD, RN Editor
Several facets of nursing practice are constants. Two such facets that have not changed over time are nurses as patient advocates as well as nurses practicing the art of caring. In some areas of nursing practice, especially in the delivery of state-ofthe-art bedside nursing care, changes have evolved. The availability of technology at the bedside has been instrumental in these changes. For example, nurse educators have begun to change educational methods to engage students, nurses in current practice, as well as patients, families, and even communities. In this issue, you will hear from nursing experts about their research, quality improvement projects, and personal experiences regarding changes in the delivery of nursing care. Nursing experts will describe how the use of technology has changed their practice, how technology has improved patient discharge into the outpatient setting, how monitoring of patients has improved with technology, and how technology has made it easier to educate, use survey tools, and implement quality improvement projects. These experts will also warn us about using technology just because we can. You will read about a project by Mullins, who warns about the simple task of blood pressure monitoring with an obese population and the implications for nurse anesthetists perioperatively. You will also be intrigued by the creativity of some of the reports of nursing quality improvement projects implemented easily due to the changes in technology. I believe this issue is important for all nurses to read, and I believe the adoption of new technological advancements is now part of the foundation of nursing practice. It is good practice to keep abreast of changes occurring in other disciplines as well as in our own so that we may apply others’ successes to our own specific areas of nursing. Informatics in nursing is a growing field and nursing as a whole must embrace technology and learn to adapt various methods of delivery so that we can appropriately care for and advocate for all our patients.
Nurs Clin N Am 50 (2015) xiii–xiv http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2015.03.010 0029-6465/15/$ – see front matter Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
nursing.theclinics.com
xiv
Preface
We are beginning to see the closing of a circle of care. Our roots began in the home; then we transformed to the acute care setting, and now we are in the beginning stages of transforming back to providing care for the patient and family in the home or community setting because of new advances in technology such as telehealth and ihealth. With the changes in our national health care system, we must encourage all nurses to be entrepreneurial and to incorporate new methods of care delivery as well as encourage ideas of how nursing can improve. I encourage you to engage with the article that resonates with your practice and discuss your thoughts with these expert nurses. You are the success of nursing and you will make a difference! Maria Overstreet, PhD, RN Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia 315 Hospital Drive Madison, TN 37116, USA Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Nashville, TN 37240, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
