Response 1

Health care is expanding and changing as the patients themselves. Health care is delivered in various settings for a variety of reasons. Nursing professionals have an essential role in ensuring patient safety. The healthcare technology trend observed in my organization is Voalte phones. The Voalte nurse phones allow nurses to receive secured messages, respond to the patient call lights; make and receive direct calls, and receive critical alarms regarding emergencies. These efficient workflows are essential for reducing communication failure between nurses and patients and quality improvement (Hansen et al., 2018). According to the National Patient Safety Foundation, one of the top patient safety issues is falls (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Often, patients fall in the room after attempting to get up independently. The failure of getting help is attributed to the nursing call bell. 4 out of 5 times, patients’ calls never get to the nurse or the nursing assistant, and patients get frustrated after a long wait time, thus get up independently. The nurse Voalte phones send patients’ calls directly to the appropriate caregivers to respond faster.

There are challenges associated with the use of Voalte technology. The first challenge is the connectivity issues like hanging network, interrupted calls, and dropping calls. The second and the most crucial challenge, in my opinion, is the alert fatigue caused by the disproportionate number of warnings received while providing care to patients. This can lead to nurses paying less attention or ignoring important alerts, limiting the effectiveness of the systems. Prioritization and safety here are crucial. A nurse administering a high alert medication like chemo or pulling narcotics for another patient from the pyxis cannot be interrupted for graham crackers and juice. All patients are essential, but nurses must prioritize. This is very challenging for many novice nurses because management pushes nurses to attend to every need of their patients. After all, patient satisfaction means everything. I have observed many nurses getting burned out at work. They cannot deliver care true to their nursing values because they are constantly getting calls on their phones while they are with other patients. Some nurses have mentioned that they have not taken an uninterrupted lunch break since we have started using the Voalte technology phones. The nurse must go to the patient’s room for every alert and physically turn off the alarm. This takes the nurse away from their lunch breaks. Nurses’ passion for wanting to help patients is taking the best from them, their love of nursing. We need to be consciously present rather than emotionally numb in our patient interactions.

One potential benefit of data safety, legislation, and patient care is the ease of getting their questions answered, and their needs met from their nurses without talking to the receptionist. We often see an information gap from one person to the next. This loss in information can be critical to patient care or experience. With Voalte technology, the patient gets to the nurses right away, and the nurse can then directly secure message the provider regarding patient needs. The smooth transferring of information leads to patient safety resulting in patient and staff satisfaction. The downside or potential risk concomitant with this mode of patient care is patients lacking the required knowledge and skills to use the application.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant disruption in the everyday workflow in the healthcare sector. I believe telemedicine is most promising for impacting healthcare technology in nursing practice. Many immunocompromised patients are opting for televisits for fear of the virus. One of the great benefits of telemedicine for providers is downsizing or eliminating their costs relating to staffing or office space (renting). One great benefit for patients is travel and time for the follow-ups or consultation. Many patients prefer the zoom call conference for visits that do not require invasive approaches or interventions. This promise will improve patient care outcomes, efficiencies, or data management because more patients engage in their health care through mobile apps. The use of patient portals and mobile health apps allows patients to stay connected and informed. Due to the growing healthcare engagement, healthcare professionals must have the required digital tools to provide better guidance to patients and their families (Skiba, 2017). 3APA reference

Response 2

Health care has changed from paper charting to computer charting to virtual visits for patients. When covid first started, office visits were canceled, and patients were set up with virtual appointments for health care. I have virtually had at least four appointments, and my daughter was seen for two virtual appointments. These appointments can have risks due to patients not having internet services or not being not able to connect correctly to the virtual appointment. Also, specific patient populations need to be seen in person for certain types of mental health patients, medical care, or pain issues. The whole person, which includes body language, should be observed in some instances of medical care. There is also a chance of private information being disclosed, which can’t be protected on the other side of the screen. Nurse Practitioners noted that CVT (Clinical video telehealth) alters sensory data collection during visits and alters building provider-patient relationships (Gopal et al., 2021). This too can be an issue with visits. 

The benefit of using virtual visits is the patients can stay remotely to have their appointment. Another advantage is that covid is being ramped; this makes for less exposure. People without transportation can quickly get answers via telehealth and have prescriptions ordered. I had gone to a clinic the other day, and I thought how I just wanted to leave because people were sick and coughing. I felt that my daughter and I were exposed because she had to get a shot. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do virtually. As the validity and reliability of these tools for virtual appointments become established, the use of adapting online health information criteria could be eliminated (Skiba, 2017). This service puts less stress on nurses and doctors with physical appointments that can be made virtually.

Patients are now becoming engaged in their health care and choosing what health care options they want to select. By leveraging interactive patient care technologies, patients and families were committed to taking an active role in pain treatment plans and evaluating treatment outcomes (Rao-Gupta et al., 2018). The changes with virtual appointments give patients more involvement with their care. I have seen a drastic change over the years with patient care. Patients ask for appointments virtually and go through the motions to ensure access is available for proper care. Many appointments can be made virtually. With the rapid onset of covid, it just makes more sense to see the patient effectively and plan of care if it warrants that the patient does not physically need to be seen. This will improve health care and keep the health care organization on a safer path from covid and crowding of clinical. 3 APA References