Healthcare Technology Advancements

Rapid Increase in Technology in Healthcare

• Over the past 4 decades, technology has rapidly increased in healthcare, driven by emerging trends.
• Nurses are involved in the purchase, design, and implementation of technology, which has been associated with more efficiency.

Common Technologies in Use

• Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the most common technology used in healthcare.
• Other long-standing technologies include syphygmomanometer, portable defibrillator, and portable sonogram/ultrasound.

Acceleration of Technology due to COVID-19

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated technology by several years, with many changes likely to be permanent.

Need for Technology in Nursing

• Nurses need technology to keep abreast with global trends, manage high patient volumes, and collaborate with others.
• Technology is also necessary for role expansion, such as nurse practitioners, and to address changing epidemiology of diseases, new epidemics, and an aging population.

Utility of Technology in Nursing

• Technology has various uses in practice, including diagnostics, monitoring, evaluation, and health education.
• It is also used in education through learning management systems and virtual simulation.
• In research, technology enables objective measurements, such as physical activity and sleep patterns, and has recently been used in AI-powered systematic review writing.

Common Technological Advances in Nursing

• Predictive analytics considers huge stored data from past patients to suggest a course of treatment with the best possible outcome.
• Clinical mobility uses handheld digital devices for convenient points of care and real-time patient data sharing.
• Mobile robotic systems use sensors and software to identify surroundings and move around, performing routine tasks and leaving time for direct care.
• Artificial intelligence enables clinical decision making, develops sophisticated algorithms, and has self-correcting abilities to improve accuracy.
• Other advances include streamlined user interfaces, remote patient monitoring, telehealth, non/less-invasive diagnostic tools, biometrics, genetics and genomics, and 3D printing.

Predictive Analytics

• Enables quick patient data analysis, saving time and improving patient outcomes.
• Examples include predicting the need for blood tests and determining risk levels for chronic conditions.

Clinical Mobility

• Promotes efficiency, allows sharing of real-time patient data, and enables quality patient care, better-informed clinicians, and more efficient workflows.
• Includes patient and family involvement.

Mobile Robotic Systems

• Can take care of routine tasks, such as greeting, triage, vital signs, medication administration, and documentation.
• Can assist in assessing health and safety risks and making informed patient decisions.
• Can also be used in robotic-assisted surgery and as companion robots for socially acceptable assistance to people who need special attention.