Telenursing: Health Care and Nurse
Telenursing: The Future of Medicine
Krystle Gonzales
College of Nursing NR 305
Health Assessment
Professor Sherer
Telenursing Telenursing is a new technology used to deliver nursing services to patients where the patient and the nurse communicate directly through audios or videos. It was developed in the 1970’s to curb the professional nurse shortage. Telenursing seeks to monitor a patient while at home, therefore preventing admission and readmission of a patient in a health facility. The telehealth equipment used to monitor the patient give out the patient health progress thus determining the status of their health. Telenursing has helped patients get the love and care they require from their family members, curbing the boredom that is experienced in a hospital setting. This program has experienced some drawbacks and potential advantages to its users. A lot of concerns have been raised regarding the ethical issues that arise from telenursing. This paper focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of telenursing, discusses the ethical issues and legal requirements related to patient’s privacy and confidentiality. Patients suffering from chronic diseases and congestive heart failure have been using the program due to its benefits. They acknowledge that telenursing technology has continuously sought to improve the lifestyle of the people. Telenursing has been able to address the issue of the shortage of nurses. Nurses who are registered are not enough to serve everyone, therefore, making telenursing a good alternative. Through telenursing a nurse can provide monitoring, education, follow-up, remote data collection, remote interventions, pain management, family support, and multidisciplinary care in an innovative fashion (Peck, 2005). The nurses through the use of telephones, audios and videos assess the progress of their patient from time to time. This has led to the provision of health services to patients regardless of the
Krystle Gonzales
College of Nursing NR 305
Health Assessment
Professor Sherer
Telenursing Telenursing is a new technology used to deliver nursing services to patients where the patient and the nurse communicate directly through audios or videos. It was developed in the 1970’s to curb the professional nurse shortage. Telenursing seeks to monitor a patient while at home, therefore preventing admission and readmission of a patient in a health facility. The telehealth equipment used to monitor the patient give out the patient health progress thus determining the status of their health. Telenursing has helped patients get the love and care they require from their family members, curbing the boredom that is experienced in a hospital setting. This program has experienced some drawbacks and potential advantages to its users. A lot of concerns have been raised regarding the ethical issues that arise from telenursing. This paper focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of telenursing, discusses the ethical issues and legal requirements related to patient’s privacy and confidentiality. Patients suffering from chronic diseases and congestive heart failure have been using the program due to its benefits. They acknowledge that telenursing technology has continuously sought to improve the lifestyle of the people. Telenursing has been able to address the issue of the shortage of nurses. Nurses who are registered are not enough to serve everyone, therefore, making telenursing a good alternative. Through telenursing a nurse can provide monitoring, education, follow-up, remote data collection, remote interventions, pain management, family support, and multidisciplinary care in an innovative fashion (Peck, 2005). The nurses through the use of telephones, audios and videos assess the progress of their patient from time to time. This has led to the provision of health services to patients regardless of the
References: Merrell, R. C., Cone, S. W., & Rafiq, A. (2008). Telemedicine in extreme conditions: disasters, war, remote sites. Studies in health technology and informatics, 131, 99-116. Peck, A. (2005). Changing the face of standard nursing practice through telehealth and telenursing. Nursing administration quarterly, 29(4), 339-343. Scullion, J. (2014). Placing a value on telehealth. Primary Health Care, 24(3), 12.