Technology Advancements in the Nursing Field
One rewarding and exciting thing about working in the medical or healthcare industry today is the opportunity to see the awe-inspiring result of decades of research, studies, and inventions.
Advancements are being made each day that make nurses鈥 and doctors鈥 lives and jobs easier, and technology is to thank for much of that. Technology helps medical professionals stay organized, up to date, and on the same page with their patients and one another, meaning there鈥檚 more time to be spent giving the very best in patient care.
Do you know about these seven modern breakthroughs in nursing technology?
1. Communication Systems
Healthcare professionals never work alone. When trying to coordinate with a medical team regarding an urgent patient matter, timely communication is key. With modern paging systems, communication apps, and even mobile phones’ texting, email, and phone call capabilities, staying in touch and on top of things is easier than ever.
2. EHR, or Electronic Healthcare Records
It used to be that all patient files were kept on paper in a literal filing cabinet. With more hospitals every day converting their records to EHR, patient information is easier than ever to update and share with necessary colleagues, keeping patients safer and medical teams more informed.
3. Diagnostic Technologies
Diagnosing a patient without an invasive procedure is a great advantage to everyone involved. Modern tools make it simple to diagnose and suggest treatments without risk of infection or pricey procedures.
4. Advances in Alarm Intelligence
The downside to all the tech is that sometimes the alarms are overwhelming and unnecessary. Recent developments in smart alarms help quiet the chaos so only important alarms reach medical staff, resulting in a more streamlined system of notifications and patient updates.
7. Patient-lifting Tools
According to NPR, records from the VA show more than 2,400 nurses “suffer debilitating injuries every year from lifting patients.” Still, it’s a requirement in many situations. Since this realization, the VA has spent more than $200 million to develop a new patient handling system that is safer for the nurses tending to them.
