Telenursing Benefits – Abstract
Telenursing Benefits explains that Nursing involves caring profession. Any lay persons could think of a nurse taking care of patients who are sick and helping general development in any young person. But nursing is considerably more than this and telenursing effectively supports and promotes parts of all nursing activities. Telenursing can be defined through different views. Every one of them consolidates an electronic transfer of data pertinent to nursing and utilizes information and computer technology (ICT). Telenursing can pass information (e.g., to help in the administration of a patient or help in any distance learning/professional improvement) and serve alternate activities of a nurse. A nurse is considered as a person who has been prepared and trained to take good care of the sick, disable, infirm and promote well-being, development in children, healthy growth and others. African telenursing is in its outset and is at the present building up its own standards and practices.
Telenursing Benefits – Introduction
Any nurse who has talked with a patient via telephone has in one way or the other practiced telehealth nursing; it is not another part, development in technology has permitted nurses to monitor, see and/or associate remotely with patients. Basically, telenursing began very long time ago with fax and the telephone, this was the simple communication tools used. With the advent of modern technologies, such as e-mails, computers, videoconferencing, and other personal digital equipment a plethora of telehealth system applications innovated and are distributed through telenursing centers, occasional sea vessels and even mobile units. Telehealth nursing is characterized as “the utilization of telehealth/telemedicine innovation to transfer nursing care and direct nursing practice. Which implies this technology is growing the health care sector at a very fast rate. Telehealth nursing is not a claim to popularize the areas in nursing. Nurses in any area who utilize information transfers and wellbeing advances, for example, sound, video, or information coordinated into their current practice are giving telehealth nursing. Consolidated with a collection of learning and abilities used to transfer nursing operations over distance telehealth patients are effectively administering to patients remotely. The understanding of this technology is important to a career in nursing operations. However, outlining the details of the operations and benefits of the telenursing technology and its effectiveness in the health care sector will help to understand the usefulness in the sector.
Generally, tele means “at a distance” and can be applicable in different context. In the context of health care, tele means an instrument that can be used to view phenomena at a distance. However, Telenursing is the utilization of “innovation to convey nursing care and lead nursing practice”. In spite of the fact that the utilization of innovation changes the conveyance medium of nursing consideration and may require skills identified with its utilization to convey nursing care, the nursing procedure and extent of practice does not vary with telenursing. The technologies used in the operation of telenursing include but may not be limited to telephones (both cell phones and landlines), facsimile machines known as faxes, internet, personal digital assistants (PDAs), video and audio conferencing, telerobotics, teleradiology, computer information systems, etc. In addition to these, some other hardware requirements include the graphics card sound card, internal memory (RAM), external memory (flash drives), printer, monitor, mouse, web cameras, keyboards, speakers or even microphone. Some of the software programs to operate on include, email, word-processing application software, database, internet related applications, and conference calls.
This technology can be used in the healthcare sector in many ways. It can be used to for patients, who are located at remote areas from the provider of the health care as a remote patient monitoring system that permit the providers to ensure the monitoring of blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse, and other crucial indications of patients in their homes. Video and/or audio communication between the nurses and patients in their different homes to replace home visits to give patient education, to evaluate as well as triage a patient’s condition. Also, the provision of specialist referral services that include consultations with a primary doctor in rendering a diagnosis through the utilization of interactive video or the through the transmission of diagnostic images is an important way it can be used. Lastly, the dispensing of medications by drug stores by means of automated dispensing systems including a live audio video link with an expert pharmacist to provide pharmacy related services at the care point in the hospital emergency rooms, employer based health centers, specialty clinics and other deployment settings to enhance strict adherence with a patient’s drug therapy.
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This technology can be implemented through the use of the stated hardware devices and following methods related to real-time, which is telephone-based which is limited to counseling or education, or for web-consult – through video and audio, and this method can also work with or without peripheral devices. The major barriers of Telenursing strategy include;
- Money: Getting reimbursement is a major barrier for telenursing. Many people have to be managed in the systems but the cost behind it is uncontrollable. Additionally, the medicare does not reimburse extensively in the free-for-service system, making it limited to some areas. The major reason for these restrictions is as a result of fear from a fact that providers may abuse the health care system or they may overuse the service and this could drive cost.
- Regulation: The licensing for this system is becoming a bigger barrier because many health care providers are using this national system. Practice regulations are another barrier than licensure because many state medical boards desires an in-person for consultation before they initiate the telenursing services.
- Technology: Without technology, telenursing cannot work. However, the system is based on the services, where they can be provided with ease and how they can change patient’s lives. Implementing this technology could create a huge data flow that is not necessarily useful or maintained.
- Evidence: Some application of this system show great success, while some other areas lack some relative studies and require synthesis of existing learning to assess their major values. For instance, some heavy payers are fine to implement telenursing but better evidence is required regarding savings of cost.
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Advantages of Telenursing
Reasons for Implementing Telenursing
Telenursing is implemented through diagnosing diseases. Research has it that its use for diagnosis is successful. In addition to this, it can also be implemented through educational sessions for its providers and also psychosocial counseling and patient education. This system had been proven successful for counseling and education through audio and video technology. In addition to this, it had also been implemented through monitoring and surveillance by effectively ensuring that patients are monitored on their medications and safety related issues are considered appropriately.
An important impact this has on the nurses include the reduction of health care cost, improving the utilization of nurse and providing easy access to care for patients.
Telenurse Enhancing Health Care and Nursing Education
The technology is employed in the case of delivering nursing care remotely, this improves the efficiency of the health care and also access to the healthcare. A nurse can telepresent any patient to a remote nurse practitioner, physician, or even physician assistant for assessment, treatment, evaluation for nonemergent or emergent consultations. This has a great effect on nursing education as telehealth nurses can deliver nursing care remotely, and they are also educators, creators, designers, implementers, developers and researchers of ehealth and telehealth services.
The Outcome it Generates
Research has it that the outcome had been successful overtime and it had brought safety to telenursing. Also it had increased the quality of health care and had also decreased adverse events at a greater level. Also, it had been effective in diagnosing disease and research shows it had been successful. It had also consistently been useful for monitoring and surveillance, and its efficiency has been quite excellent for monitoring and communicating with patients beyond settings related to acute care.
Telenursing Benefits- Conclusion
This technology had been proven effective to the health care sector and it had been cost effective. Its implementation is relatively easy for any level of nursing and the barriers are gradually being targeted by regulatory bodies. This technology has been able to improve the safety of patients, provide profitability, increase good workflow and enhanced the speed of operation. Finally, it is a good way to effectively educate all nurses to be self-confident in their daily operations and they would be creative with respect to this technology.
Telenursing Benefits – References:
- Schlachta-Fairchild, L. (n.d.). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2687/
- Telenursing: Front-Line Application of Telehealthcare Delivery. (2009). Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.seacoastmission.org/in_the_news/Telenursing.pdf
- TELEHEALTH NURSING FACT SHEET: ATA Telehealth Nursing SIG. (2005). Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- Telenursing Practice Guidelines. (2008) Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://ebox.nbu.bg/medteach/ne11/Paper37.pdf
- Improving access in healthcare through the use of telemedicine, telepharmacy and telenursing. (2015). Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.insidecounsel.com/2015/03/04/improving-access-in-healthcare-through-the-use-of
- Telenursing and Remote Access Telehealth. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.aacn.nche.edu/qsen-informatics/2012-workshop/presentations/westra/Telehealth.pdf
- Read “The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary” at NAP.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.nap.edu/read/13466/chapter/5#19