NRS 490 Week 5 Essay Discussion
Technology is integral to successful implementation in many projects, through either support or integration or both. Name at least one technology that you might or will need to work with that will improve the implementation process and the outcomes of your EBP project.NRS 490 Week 5 Essay Discussion
The emerging medical technology, especially in diagnostics and therapeutics has significantly enhanced patient care and the manner in which healthcare is provided in general. Moreover application of medical technology has played a critical role not only in enhancing health outcomes but also in reducing healthcare costs. Some of the medical technologies have facilitated early diagnosis and treatment of potentially chronic and fatal illnesses such as cervical cancer.My evidence based project is based on the need to educate surgical patients on the dangers of health complications associated with Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA) especially in unmonitored settings. Empirical research studies indicate high occurrence of adverse health outcomes associated with OSA complications in surgical patients due to lack of adequate diagnostics mechanisms to detect OSA before and after the patient undergoing surgery (Lemus, McMullin & Balinowski, 2016).
Research demonstrates a high prevalence of OSA complications in ambulatory care, a factor attributed to low monitoring of the outpatients (Brenner & Goldman, 2014). To prevent the adverse outcomes associated with OSA complications, educating the patient and caregivers would help in diagnosing and preventing the patient from suffering the negative effects. In this regard, my evidence based project is educational, aimed at enhancing the self-efficacy of surgical patients and their care givers especially in homecare setting in regard to addressing complications associated with OSA.
The technology that could improve the implementation of the project is telemedicine. This would facilitate monitoring and delivery of care to surgical patients in unmonitored settings. The technology is suitable during postoperative period, especially when the patient is under homecare. Application of telemedicine in the implementation of this project is feasible because of increased penetration of broadband and fast internet speed across the country, which makes it cost effective method of monitoring and educating patients and their caregivers remotely. Moreover, telemedicine can easily be integrated with other medical technologies and applications, thereby enabling a multidisciplinary approach in provision of care for outpatients (Tan & and Ong, 2012).NRS 490 Week 5 Essay Discussion
Although telemedicine is appropriate in implementation of my EBP, I do not plan to use it for various reasons. First, it is susceptible to frequent interruptions and technical hitches, which could effectively jeopardize delivery of care for patients in remote areas with poor internet accessibility. Secondly, telemedicine would not be appropriate for patients with limited knowledge about the technology and those with diminished functional capability especially due to advanced age.
Conclusion
Application of technology in in delivery of healthcare services could enhance health outcomes of the patients. In my evidence based project, telemedicine would play a major role in providing information and monitoring of patients in unmonitored settings for complications associated with OSA. However, vulnerability of telemedicine to technological problems is a major barrier to its application. Since my project aims at educating surgical patients on complications associated with OSA, the training would take place in hospital setting using face to face approach.NRS 490 Week 5 Essay Discussion