Comments on: 19 Technologies That Changed Nursing Careers Forever

By: JoAnn Bennett

JoAnn Bennett — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:21:54 +0000

I like seeing the advancement technologies in the nursing field, but how about the “seeing” your patient and a little time spent with them. I have been out of the acute setting for a few years and at times would like to return to the field, however I feel that there is no way to gracefully step back into that area.
Nursing shortages will continue.

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:57:54 +0000

I live and work in Scotland and some of the more up to date equipment is not used here; for example, tablet IT devices. Good old pen and paper then a fight for the only computer screen at the end of the shift is more like it.

By: Juan

Juan — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:20:08 +0000

You forgot one “technology” that changed nursing significantly. The “HMO” and the health-care-as-a-business revolution.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:13:41 +0000

Our son was born preemie and IUGR (1.5 lbs at 30 weeks!) — and I’m in agreement with much of the list.

I have seen electronic charting used very effectively at The Children’s Hospital in Denver. The computers are on COW’s (computer on wheels) which are battery-powered ergonomic carts that glide easily from one patient bay to the next. From these computers, all charts can be brought up, ad hoc reports made on the spot, and orders entered, confirmed, acknowledged, and verified. The computerized system made it very easy for the nurses to see everything all at once, or to drill down to specifics – say medication, or vital stats, or even a screen for noting parental involvement.

Apparently, almost everyone hated it when they first switched to electronic charting — the nurses, practitioners, and the doctors that use it all day, every day, now love the system and wouldn’t want to go back to paper.

About a month later, when our son was more stable, we transferred to the hospital much closer to home. They are still on paper charting, and it feels a bit cumbersome. The patient monitors are more advanced there, however. If an alarm goes off in another room, all monitors on the floor will overlay a summary showing the room number and the condition for the alarm. The nurses basically can “see” everyone from anywhere on the floor.

By: Isabeau

Isabeau — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:39:56 +0000

In our biggest local hospital, the nurses’ laptops are glued to laptop stands. I said to one nurse, “This setup seems to combine the limited power of a laptop computer with the inconvenience of a desktop computer.” “Pretty much,” she said.

By: Maffiou

Maffiou — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:32:11 +0000

Anything around pain management ?

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:24:29 +0000

Really intersting post. Particularly your thoughts on flexible learning and wireless internet. We are doing quite a bit of research into some of the areas in the Division of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University.

Like Kyle I am a software developer and I agree that there are difficulties but I think we will overcome them soon. Certainly the graduates that we are seeing today have much better technical skills than even two or three years ago.

By: Kyle Adams

Kyle Adams — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:22:38 +0000

Some background: I’m a developer and life-long geek, my wife is an RN. Unfortunately the realities of many of the technologies mentioned above (tablet computing, information management) is that the actual implementation can fall far short of the promise. Inflexible UIs can waste far more time than pen-and-paper forms; electronic UIs don’t let you scribble notes in the margin to clarify when a checkbox just isn’t adequate. Paper has 100% uptime, something of which the typical Windows-based laptops and tablets can only dream. I’m not advocating that hospitals stick to pen-and-paper forever, but just raising the issue that some of these technologies aren’t quite there yet, in terms of improving the nursing profession.

By: bill

bill — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:08:37 +0000

Fascinating, especially the number of the entries that relate to or are boosted by technology related to data flow — not meds and beds, but bits and bytes. Outstanding!