Technology In Nursing

The growth of technology has greatly impacted America’s job selection. The nursing field is one of many careers that is evolving. Despite many people becoming shocked by amazing advancements, others are able to find important flaws. Although some improvements are controversial, overall they prove to be beneficial.
As robotic knowledge grows, it is contributing to the medical field. The nursing field needs to evolve along with it. By adapting to new technology, such as nanotechnology, nursing will stay relevant. The purpose of these tiny robots is to flow through the bloodstream and prevent any future diseases. Nurses will obviously need to with this huge step in technology. They will be measuring and administering the dosage given to each
patient. It was expected that humans would inevitably find a way to create cyborgs. With technological growth there is or will be: pancreatic peacemakers in order to help diabetics, miniature microphones and cameras for deaf and blind, and even mathematical algorithms that can read minds to move wheelchairs by thought. With these amazing advancements, people will feel a loneliness. Nurses are human caretakers that will soon be controlling robots. Although this will help with accuracy, it does not help a grieving patient. Already mental patients are treated with robots, teaching basic behavior, this can eliminate a human connection.
Robotic technology is catering to those with social and cognitive related problems, along with elderly patients. Problems that nurses dealt with are now being changed with robotic companions. While children with autism often find it hard to interact with humans, many times they become excited with a robot. Robots created for autistic children can teach behaviorally, cognitively, and socially. The robots are able to detect certain subtleties and react appropriately. This can definitely be beneficial to a child instead of a nurse who might miss certain cues. In the past nurses would accompany elderly patients and ensure that they were kept from loneliness. Now there are robots to connect with this. Paro, a robotic stuffed seal, originating in Japan, can act as an easy-to-care-for pet for the elderly. Paro can show emotions and expresses its own loneliness at the right time. From these examples of robotic companions we can see a step towards less nursing interactions. This changes one of the biggest tasks in the career.
With improvements to automation there will be a huge shift in a nurse’s career.
This definitely will have negative connotations for some people. Many find the technological changes to be irrelevant. Philip Darbyshire, a professor of nursing, states in a study about the matter that “Technological ‘solutions’ to health care problems are endlessly seductive and easily entrance policy and decision makers.” In his study he used CPIS (Computerized Patient Information System), which many clinics use in order to gain the patient’s basic information, surveying to see their opinions. While someone outside of the field might find these advancements tremendous and making huge beneficial steps in the medical community, they can not see the bane of it. Darbyshire explains that technological ideas might make a board member googly-eyed over how much they can save with the budget, but it can negatively affect the nurses and even patients. From Darbyshire’s study he found that the participants disliked the the system. It lacked the “...ability to capture ‘real nursing’...” This belief is a major argument against improvements. With automation, newer generations of nurses and doctors will lose critical-thinking skills. As Nicholas Carr explains in The Glass Cage, “... we’ll be compelled to adapt our own work, behavior, and skills to the capabilities and routines of the machines we depend on” (41). Despite advancements being able to make diagnoses more accurate, this can lead to a less thoughtful generation of nurses. What if a robot malfunctions, leaving a nurse to make a quick decision which could lead to life or death? While nurses now would be able to make an efficient fix, could a nurse of the future be able to change their routine as quickly? Hopefully, like pilots being told to fly manually in order to maintain their skill, nurses will keep their medical procedures
sharpened.
It is necessary that nurses-to-be and those that have been in the field for decades learn how to properly use the tools and resources given to them. They basically need to stay up-to-date with their employer’s technologies if anything is going to work. By learning how to communicate with each other through technology, nurses can discuss patients quicker and efficiently prioritize certain patients. They also need to maintain a healthy relationship with each patient in order to keep a positive environment in hospitals and clinics. Relating to Darbyshire’s study, this will probably be the biggest complaint from the public. Patients will not want to speak with a computer gathering their information in a time of emergency, they want another human to interact with in most cases.