Telehealth
and Telenursing by Sharon Brazile
Describe
your selected topic
Telehealth is the use of telecommunication
to deliver information to a patient using a telephone (McGonigle &
Mastrian, 2018). As times goes on,
telehealth technology is advancing. In
2016, it was expected that virtual visits would surpass face to face visits
(McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018).
Telehealth utilizes technology to deliver healthcare, information, and
education from a distance (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). In distance locations, telehealth can use
videos to transmit pictures to the doctors about a patient from the rural
location to an urban area. Also,
information can be exchanged in real-time using videos for educational
purposes. Nurses must be onboard to use
the tools of technology.
Telenursing is a branch of telehealth that
uses telecommunication and technology together to diagnose and treat a
patient. Telenursing can be used in patients’
home, nursing homes, or call centers. Usually,
telenursing is supervised by the nurse. Telenursing can reach at risk-patients,
isolated patients, hospitalized, and emergency patients.
The future of telehealthcare is becoming
an integrated healthcare model. Retail clinics
have begun to emerge to work on prevention services such as vaccines and minor
illness (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018).
The research was done to find out if patients were satisfied with
telehealth, and the patients were due to the convenience of services and
quality of care (Polinski and colleagues, 2016). The
patient preferred telehealth over an actual provider (McGonigle & Mastrian,
2018). Telemedicine is providing patients
with access to specialists who can help them with proper nutrition. Some sites help patients with the correct
ways to perform exercises. There are
some barriers to telehealth that we will discuss in another heading, but
telehealth is here to stay (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). Telehealth future will consist of the use of more
sophisticated broadband communication systems.
Data will grow. Companies will
support embedded and worn sensors.
Telehealth and telenursing will improve quality of care for the
patients. Nurses must be acceptable to
change and embrace new technology.
Patients will be reached from all locations from the poorest of
neighborhoods to the richest of valleys.
What
impact is your topic having in healthcare
Mobile devices have improved the uses of
real-time. Technology has made it easier for patients to have access to care in
their home versus going to a facility for care.
The mobile device has allowed the patient to take charge of their care. The patient can engage in their care,
decrease healthcare cost, and improve the patient’s outcome (Silva et al.,
2015). Data must be handled carefully
when using and setting up the mobile device.
The patient must have control of the data being input into the system. Wearable sensors are used to track and
transfer data to the healthcare workers.
Smartphones are used to capture the patient’s heart rhythms, and new
technology is still used to track the patient’s response to the environment
(Meetoo, 2018). Ingestible and
implantable sensors can go farther than the human eye. The ingestible sensor can tell the healthcare
worker precisely what is going on in the gut.
Implantable sensors are being used to assess the patient’s adherence to
taking their medication for hypertension and heart failure patients. The implantable sensors are activated by the patient’s
gastric fluids, which transport to a patch which sends the data to a smartphone
where the practitioners read the data.
What
are the benefits and barriers of your chosen topics?
Mobile health (mHealth) has allowed for
the use of telephones, digital devices, computers, and other wireless devices
to reach a group of people. The patients have control of their care. Telenursing
allows access to rural locations and allows for the usage of specialists, and
it still allows for a therapeutic relationship to be established (Sanderson,
2018). Some barriers are due to electronic
health records (EHR). The EHR which is
not being utilized to their full potential in healthcare facilities and the
computers has technical issues, a lag in performance and work need to be done
on how well they function (Meetoo, 2018).
Are
there any patient safety/security issues or ethical concerns?
The concern is the use of
technology. The nurse must know how to
use the equipment. The twenty-first-century
nurse will have complicated problems with dealing with people using the
technology (Meetoo, 2018). Ethical guidelines
need to be in place. What happens when the
equipment injuries the patient? Who is held accountable for material that causes
injury to the patients? Currently, there
are no accountability issues with sensors and automated diagnoses (Meetoo, 2018). Will the machine take the place of the nurse
critical thinking and clinical judgment (Sanderson, 2018)? The problem with the technology is ensuring the
security of data transmissions and for the physician not to receive an
overwhelming amount of data (TechTarget, n.d.).
Provide
two examples of why your topic could impact your practice as a future DNP
leader?
As a DNP leader technology will change the
day to day process of how the clinical setting is operated. Evidence-based practice states that
technology is making it easier for the nurse to perform day to day task. The technology
will allow me to communicate with the patient and diagnose and treat the
patient over the phone. The use of mHealth and the EHR system can improve the
outcome of the patient in a positive way.
Depending on the role I take, research states that there is complete
satisfaction with telenursing (Sanderson, 2018). Also, the VA hospital is implementing the VA
Video Connect (VVC), whereas the patient can schedule their appointments with
the clinicians (Swanson, 2019). Virtual
health will help meet health needs (Sanderson, 2018). Virtual health allows for easier access to
rural location if I happen to be in a rural area. Utilizing the EHR in the clinical setting
will enable the DNP to stay on top of current electronic record keeping. EHR allows
for easy access if you are in the clinical setting or a remote area. EHR are mobile, can go anywhere. EHR enables
the DNP leader to collaborate with other healthcare workers. EHR is a great
tool to have in one facility.
References
McGonigle,
D. & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
Meetoo,
D., Rylance, R., Abuhaimid., H. A. (2018). Health care in a technological world.
British Journal
of Nursing. November 15, 2018.
Polinski, J.M., Barker, T., Gagliano, N., Sussman, A., Brennan,
T.A., & Shrank, W.H. (2016).
Patients’
satisfaction with and preference for telehealth visits. Journal of General
Internal Medicine, 31(3), 269-275. doi:10.1007/s11606-015-3489-x
Sanderson, A. (2018). The
satisfactions of telenursing. Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand Date:
August 1, 2018.
Silva BM, Rodrigues JJ, de la Torre Díez I, López-Coronado M,
Saleem K. Mobile-health: a
review of
current state in 2015. J Biomed Inform. 2015; 56:265–72.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2015.06.003
Swanson, H., Rowe, D., & Vick, L. (2018). Increasing Access to
Care with VA Video Connect.
Nevada RNformation Date:
August 1, 2019
TechTarget. (n.d.) A guide to healthcare IoT possibilities and
obstacles. Retrieved from
http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/essentialguide/A-guide-to-health-IoT-
possibilities-and-obstacles
