Technology in Healthcare is here to Stay

Technology in healthcare is here to stay. I have spoken to hundreds, maybe thousands now, of nurses and healthcare professionals across the globe about healthcare, nursing, technology and more. 

A common concern I hear and can see is the concern of technology's role in healthcare. "It is not nursing", is something I have heard through the years. "It gets in the way of working with patients" or "Patients think I am not working when I am on a device". Other common concerns are related to documentation burden, accessibility of information, and difficulties with using aspects of the technology. 

Now, with the emergence and attention of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for use in healthcare and the overarching concern of the potential for bias, inaccuracies, lack of transparency and a general need to understand how the technology works, the concern is greater. 

So, how do we as a profession become ready, forward thinking, and proactive in preparation for new AI tools? 

Well, let us look back at the concerns I shared above. 

"It is not nursing."

"It gets in the way of working with patients."

"Patients think I am not working when I am on a device."

These are perceptions and process challenges that can be overcome. Working with technology is a part of nursing today and has been for as long as the stethoscope has been around. (The stethoscope is a technology). Our society is dependent upon technology and healthcare is not immune from its use and opportunities to expand on how we can care for patients and new knowledge we can gain from technology. 

How we use the technology and communicate those expectations about the use of technology is also up to us and our organizations. Patients will understand why you are using a computer or phone or tablet if you explain it to them. When we do not effectively communicate is when we have misconceptions and potential for misunderstandings. 

These are manageable and do not require technology to overcome. However, it does require us as a profession to recognize our technological dependencies and work to solve those areas where we can benefit from more support, enhancements, redesign and new technologies as we look into the future. 

Now, I would ask you to consider, what is just one benefit you see with the use of healthcare technology for care delivery? When you identify that, consider another and keep that moving forward. 

~ Sincerely, 

Dr. Kelley PhD MBA RN NI-BC FNAP