Thursday, November 20, 2008
Is technology helping or hindering when it comes to overcoming communication barriers in health care?
Technology is growing by such leaps and bounds, in all areas of life, and it’s obvious to see that this technology is changing the way we live. To many people, technology is a thing of convenience, something that simplifies and organizes. In health care, technology is revolutionizing the way many things are done, from charting to assessing, and certainly, how we communicate with each other and our patients. I believe that technology has the potential to take us where we never thought possible, and to improve communication in health care in a way that benefits all. Although, I think that we, as nurses, must keep in mind one important thing: There is no technology that can replicate a kind touch, a warm smile, or a thoughtful word.
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2 comments:
I work on a flood where the average age of nurses is 50 and they are against technology for the most part. They don't exactly come out and say it but I can feel it. I even had an doctor in his 60's say to me mockingly, "maybe we could have robot doctors too" when I was discussing the potential of tablets PCs at the bedside.
For some reason, my manager comes to me instead of the unit clerk to design forms for the unit and recently I constructed a form for the doctor's board that we revise every day. I tried to implement and electronic version of the form and failed miserably. I love technology, maybe a little too much, but it is so frustrating how nurses fight it at times.
Technology will never replace the human aspect of nursing such as warm smiles like yours but hopefully it will make us better nurses.
I totally, agree with you on the topic. Information technology with all its glamour cannot replace a compassionate and dedicated nursing professional. You may be hooked up to a million sophisticated electronic medical devices but it means nothing without a human touch. It is great to know that we as human beings care, contrary to impersonal information technology and all medical devices.
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