The Impact Of Technology On Healthcare : Telehealth And Telenursing

Healthcare relies heavily on the use of technology. Sonograms, x-rays, electronic health records are commonly known technology uses, and there are many more. This paper will focus on an aspect of technology in healthcare: telehealth and telenursing in healthcare. It will explain how health care has been successfully implementing telehealth, as well as the complications and negative aspects of telehealth.

Telehealth care is a term used to cover a variety of health care services. Generally telehealth is the use of electronic technologies to support long-distance health care. Technologies can include video or telephone conferencing, remote monitoring, streaming media, digital images and wireless communications. Telehealth technology can be used to relieve the health care provider shortage and provide efficient patient care. An essential aspect of telehealth care is telenursing. Telenursing is when nurses use the telehealth technology to provide care whenever there is a physical distance between the patient and nurse. (McGonigle, 2015).

A telehealth monitoring program called Vidant was launched in 2012. This program gave patients certain devices to measure their vital signs, and then transmitted the results to their healthcare providers. The success was immediately shown with this particular program; the patient hospital admission dropped 20% in the first year, and fell 74% in 2013 (Rockoff, 2015). Additionally, telehealth is necessary in some cases. When there was the Ebola crisis, contact with a patient could be detrimental to the doctor or nurse. In order to receive care, a new electronic stethoscope was used on Ebola patients in United States hospitals. No human contact needed to be made to use it. The stethoscope was connected t...

... middle of paper ...

... and health providers are beginning to realize the value and convenience of it. There are many benefits for certain types of patients, such as telemental health or patients with chronic diseases. Telehealth can also be effective in cases where physical contact is not permitted or in rural areas. Telehealth does have negative implications as well. In many hospital settings, nurses have found telehealth to be a burden, rather than an assistance. It is imperative that nurses and providers stay informed on the updates in telehealth technology. Telehealth should be incorporated into the general nursing school’s curriculum. At the rate technology is advancing, telehealth will be the widely accepted healthcare option worldwide. That being the case, young or future nurses, who will be using technology for years to come, should focus on telehealth and its relation to nursing.