Technology – Does it make a difference?

10 Dec Technology – Does it make a difference?

Have you ever wondered about the actual value of technology and how best to capture & decipher the benefits, it has over our profession?

How does one decide which form of technology to welcome as opposed to deciding if it makes life more difficult & do we have a choice?

As a trainer for the rollout of the NSW medical health records I completely understood the benefits of accessing patient data with complete ease, even though there were some hiccups along the way. How useful to access important data for your patients’ at the click of a finger, these days we have computerised doctor’s orders, biometrics, robotics and now mobile phone applications that have been developed to provide more intricate details as to the type of care we provide to our patient. Such resources aim to enhance our own development & understanding of conditions, not to forget the ease of access to valuable data.

Over the years my scrub pockets would always be filled with notes from scrap pieces of paper or paper hand towels with important details about a procedure or a surgeons’ preference, which at the end of the shift I would accidently discard, instead of saving it in my locker for the next time I did that surgeons list…

After some intense thinking I decided it was time, time, to take the plunge and develop a user friendly app to aid operating room nurses & technicians. I wanted a more technical savvy way to remember anything & everything that I needed to, in order to safely carry out my duties as a diligent and resourceful instrument & circulating nurse.

I did not want to replace the surgeons preferences, but I did want to provide as much detail about an operation so that a nurse could review, update & add any details at a time that would suit them, and yes, on the way to work and even at home, because we love our work and strive to be as organised as possible…

So what are your thoughts, am I complicating an already over exposed industry to more technological nonsense, or will your professional disposition be enhanced with this mobile application?