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GENERATION ISSUE AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH CARE

Today we have a gap between baby boomers and Gen-Xers regarding knowledge in computer technology. Ten years ago computer technology was not a huge part of nursing education, or in elementary, and high school education. The baby boomers generation was taught by the old pedagogy - all eyes on the teacher. Majority of baby boomer nurses are computer illiterate or have scant amount of knowledge of the computer. Today the method of pedagogy is self learning. Prensky (2008), states, "Every teacher and administrator is, currently, somewhere on a continuum between the old and the new paradigns." The Gen-Xers generation of adaptation to computer technology is evident. It is evident in their toys, books, and the younger adolescents have easy access to the web twenty-four hours per day via cell phone. The tool that is most instrumental in the method of self learning is the computer. Prensky (2008) sates, "If we can agree that the role of technology in our classrooms is to support the "new" pedagogy of kids teaching themselves with the teacher's guidance, then we can all move much more quickly down the road of reaching that goal." A knowledge deficit can hinder a person's health care. Majority of health information is input into a computer. Computer technology decreases medical errors. Computer technology is able to aide in early diagnoses, and allow doctor easy access to a person's health file.

All health educators and nurses need to recognize that technology is a vital to a person's health care. Baby boomers need to equip themselves with the knowledge of computer technology in order to close the generational gap between Gen-Xers.

Reference
Prensky, M. (Nov.-Dec. 2008). Educational Technology: The Role of Technology and the Classroom.

SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES AFFECTING USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH CARE

Socioeconomic factors affect the use of technology in health care. There are three socioeconomic factors affect the use of technology in health care: poverty, lack of education and no health insurance. Poverty is intertwined with the remaining two socioeconomic factors. As Farmer (as cited in Trotochaud 2006) states, "Although many factors contribute to barriers that impede access to health care poverty is the single most significant barrier." Education is parallel with the job position a person has. The higher level of education, the better health insurance coverage one will receive. Farmer (as cited in Trotochaud 2006)states, "Lack of insurance coverage decrease with a rise in education level." A person that does not have health insurance will not receive optimal healthcare. Many illness and diseases can be detected with the use of modern technology, since technology is expensive. These deserving people are deprived because medical technology is so costly.

Reference

Trotochaud, K. (may/June, 2006). Ethical Issues and Access to Healthcare. Infusion Nursing, 29, 165-171. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from ERIC database

Computer technologies supporting teaching-learning process in clinical setting

The major objective of teaching in clinical setting, by tradition, is to progress medical or nursing students’ competence in clinical skills. Surgical simulators, for instance, are used to train resident surgeons to improve their performance and to reduce surgical errors in hospitals. The notable advance for simulate practice is for the trainee to be able to perform exercises on the simulation which is accurately mimics the real human body without jeopardy to patients.
As computer technology becomes more affordable, computer supporting equipments have also been applied to nursing teaching activities. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), for example, has been introduced into nursing program in School of Health Science in New Zealand since 1998. According to Wilson, "the application is to be used by students of nursing in their final community clinical placement learning using the PDA… A desktop version of the software will be used on standalone PCs within a designated computer suite, so that students can use the database that resembles the real world of automated documentation to formulate care plans that contribute to their usual assessment points within clinical course..."(n.d.)

References:
Wilson, S. (n.d.). Development of a personal digital assistant (PAD) as point-of-care technology in nursing education. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://www.pdacortex.com/pda_nursing_education_htm

Misys EMR system in clinical setting

Some systems have been developed to connect hospital and communities. These systems will make patient medical information from hospital being synchronized to patient’s primary care provider whose practice is based in the community. Mercy Medical Group, for example, chose Misys EMR system to apply to clinical settings. Mercy Medical Group found the following:
Misys’ family of leading clinical products and Web-based technologies - Misys Optimum solutions – are designed from the ground up to share patient data across all medical care settings. Misys Optimum connects community-based physicians and caregivers to the acute care enterprise, enabling increased efficiencies, better decision-making and improved hospital-physician relations. (Mercy Medical Group, 2004)

Reference:
Mercy Medical Group. (2004, September 13). Mercy Medical Group chooses misys EMR clinical solution for 500 users. Business Wire, New York, p. 1.

Reasons for Simulation Technologies

Simulation technologies have been developed to further utilize the teaching strategy of simulation, to create richer simulated learning experiences, and to present increasingly complex patient conditions to students for evaluation. Human patient simulators are programmable to show different signs and symptoms, to identify if the correct medication has been administered, and to demonstrate critical patient situations that students might never encounter in a clinical rotation in nursing school. They are advantageous in nursing education because they eliminate any threat to patient safety while maintaining the capacity to present specific and unique patient situations that can provide consistent and comparable experiences for all students (Medley & Horne, 2005).

Reference:
Medley, C. F. & Horne, C. (2005). Using simulation technology for undergraduate nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education 44(1), 31-35.

Human Patient Simulator Advantages and Disadvantages

The high fidelity human patient simulator is a high cost teaching tool. In addition to the cost of the unit itself, added costs include the costs of the software programs made for the unit and costs of training staff to program and maintain the unit. Harlow & Sportsman (2007) conducted a study of the costs and savings of human patient simulators which revealed that “there are substantial savings in instructional costs that should occur as a result of the use of patient simulators, but that the savings are not sufficient to offset the investment costs." In the immediate future, the circumstance of total costs in excess of savings provided by the technology may keep nursing education from investing in the technology. However, in the current context of a nursing faculty and nurse preceptor shortage, educational institutions may choose to take on the additional costs if the tool is effective in alleviating staffing strains. In the context of “shorter length of patient stay, higher patient acuity, [and] nursing staff shortages,” there may not be nursing clinical supervisors and preceptors available for students to learn to the same extent by caring for real patients (Medley & Horne, 2005).

References:

Harlow, K.C., & Sportsman, S. (2007). An economic analysis of patient simulators for clinical training in nursing education. Nursing Economics 25(1), 24-29.

Medley, C. F. & Horne, C. (2005). Using simulation technology for undergraduate nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education 44(1), 31-35.

Link for More Information on Cultural Concerns and Technology in Health Care

Indian Journal of Medical Ethics
Moral and Ethical Imperatives of Health Care Technologies: Scientific, Legal and Socio-economic Perspectives
Copy and Paste this link into your browser to learn more:
http://www.issuesinmedicalethics.org/151fc35.html

Link for History of EMR

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Electronic health records overview
National Institutes of Health
Copy and paste this link into your browser to learn more:
http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/publications/informatics/dhr.pdf

Link for More Information on Simulation Technology

Council of State Boards of Nursing
The role of simulation in nursing education: a regulatory perspective.
Copy and Paste this link into your browser:
https://www.ncsbn.org/The_Role_of_Simulation_in_Nursing_Education.pdf

Obstacle of some current heatlh record system

There are some computer based medical systems being utilized by hospitals at the present time. These systems function as hospital intranet information database which only provides information within a hospital area. Although, there is almost all important medical information available in the system, patients’ primary care providers can not have the information in the timely manner because they are not in the hospital physically or they are not affiliated with the hospital to access the information system. How to resolve the dilemma has become the information technology companies’ top priority.

SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES AFFECTING USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION

There are definite socioeconomic issues affecting technology in health care and in education. Certain socioeconomic characteristics, unfortunately, are linked to ethnic groups that prevent the use of technology in health care and obtaining quality education. Poverty, the lack of education, and jobless are some of the socioeconomic reasons that impede the technology applied to health care and education. Generational gaps betwen nurses and nurse educators are another factor that affects technology in education and in healthcare

The challenge to improve early EMR system

The early EMR systems have obviously some drawbacks. For instance, different systems using different terminology cause miscommunications between each system and problems for the users. It is a challenge for people to develop modern EHR systems which will overcome the old systems’ defects. There needs to be one that will guarantee uncomplicated operating methods and secure medical history information.

History of electronic health record

The foremost electronic medical record (EMR) system emerged forty years ago. Shortliffe (2005) stated that, “by the late 1960’s there were experiments with full-fledged EMR systems that collected data directly from clinicians and were designed for use in both inpatient and outpatient settings." Many of current EMRs are developed from previous efforts. The significant early systems include: The Computer Stored Ambulatory Record (COSTAR), Health Evaluation through Logical Processing (HELP), The Medical Record (TMR), Composite Health Care System (CHCS), and De-Centralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP), and so forth. (National Institutes of Health, 2006).

References:

National Institutes of Health. (2006, April). Electronic health records overview. National Center for Research Resources. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/publications/informatics/dhr.pdf

Shortliffe, E. H. (2005, September/October). Strategic action in health information technology: Why the obvious has taken so long. Health Affairs, Chevy Chase, 24(5), 1222-1234.

Computer technologies in clinical settings

Soaring health care costs and unsafe practices are the major factors to facilitate to using electronic patient record in health care system in the United States. Former President George W. Bush was advocating to disseminating electronic health records before the expiration of his first presidential term. Shortliffe (2005) indicated, “Today the United States is poised to achieve what has been sought and anticipated for at least three decades.” In fact, computer technologies have been developing very fast. It has also affected the teaching-learning process in clinical settings since that momentous time.

Reference:
Shortliffe, E. H. (2005, September/October). Strategic action in health information technology: Why the obvious has taken so long. Health Affairs, Chevy Chase, 24(5), 1222-1234.

Simulation Technologies in Nursing Education

Simulation technologies refer those tools and strategies that, in an educational setting, enable students to learn processes and actions through experience. In the context of nursing education, the human patient simulator is the most utilized simulation technology, and innovations in simulation technology for nursing have been focused on further development of this human patient simulator. There is need to develop other types of simulation technologies, which would further nursing education, such as less-costly screen-based simulations. The use of the human patient simulator, though expensive, offers substantial benefits to the student and to the nursing education system in its current struggle with the shortage of faculty and preceptors.

Welcome to this Resource Room for Nurses Learning about how Technology Can Be Used in Nursing Education