Current Issues in Nursing

Question 1

Current Nursing Issues

Answer 1

• Organ donations/transplant: voluntary or compulsory http://www.signezdon.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?accueil-sansjs-en
• Privatization of some aspects of Health Care: who is the patient (more info- Privatizing health care is not the answer: lessons from the United States, Marcia Angell MD, 2008, in CMAJ)
• Technology and Nursing: Quality care?

Loss of personalized care?

Question 2

Nursing Informatics

Answer 2

Antithesis

• —Refers to ideas presented in the literature that purport that the use of computers and other information technologies in health care is a threat:
• In fact it is the antithesis or opposite of providing compassionate, caring and client–centered nursing care.

Artifact

• Refers to the notion that technology of all kinds, including the contemporary inclusion of information technologies in nursing is an inherent, almost seamless cultural phenomenon, one that is long-standing and can be taken for granted as part of nursing evolution

Utility

• —Refers to the notion that technology of all kinds, including the contemporary inclusion of information technologies in nursing is an inherent, almost seamless cultural phenomenon, one that is long-standing and can be taken for granted as part of nursing evolution.

Technique

• —The concept of technique focuses on the application of information technologies in nursing aimed to boost productivity and efficiency, promote best practices and evidenced-based practice, and concretely record nursing activities electronically.

Agency

• —Agency incorporates actor-network theory, technological agency in its’ own right, and how nurses interact with information and communication technologies (ICTs) in an interactive and intense, almost reciprocal way.

Power

• —Power will be investigated from a disciplinary perspective, including the consequences of prestige, influence, legitimacy, governmental and social access.

Networks

• —The notion of networks entails an examination of the application of information technologies in a collaborative way: in interactions with other people, such as colleagues, interdisciplinary team members, clients, and communities of practice and inquiry, sometimes on a global scale.

Question 3

Electronic Health Records Pros and Cons

Answer 3

Pros

• Record keeping: more efficient
• paperless, seamless information processing
• uninterrupted patient record
• time, resource and cost savings
• permanent record
• compilation of latest findings, tests
• accessible and transferable between variety of health professionals
• current, portable, instant documentation
• interfaces with main data bank
• accessible by numerous departments (with controlled access): nurses, MD, physio, pharmacy
• Quality (safety) patient care:

Essential demographics

Allergies, reactions

Photo ID (and #)

Current medications

Family Hx, contact #

Living will info, organ donation

• educational aspect: all need same level
• period of double documentation
• How many of hospital personnel be affected? And Who?
• eliminate patient error
• eliminate medication error
• wireless data entry
• remote health monitoring via wifi: bp, cbgm, pacemaker status ect

Cons

• Patient privacy
• Laws governing IT?
• Controlled access?
• Stolen data, who benefits?
• Hacker resistant
• Legally who has power over patient information
• System break down
• Electrical failure
• Disaster situation
• Network breakdown policy

Question 4

High Tech Nursing