Telenursing: Is It In My Future?
Holly Thomason
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR361: Information Systems in Healthcare September 2015
Telenursing: Is It In My Future? Telenursing can be described as a way to examine, treat, monitor and assess patients remotely using telephone, video conferencing, and other technology. Using it in a home setting has many benefits to patient’s that are living at home with chronic conditions. In the USA, about 80% of older adults have one chronic condition, and 50% have at least two (CDC 2011). A decent homebased management of patients with chronic diseases would make it easier to detect exacerbations in conditions quickly and in turn reduce hospital readmissions and slow down disease progression …show more content…
In many cases telenursing would most likely be more convenient for patients. It could eliminate time spent waiting in waiting rooms to be seen by a doctor. It also eliminates the need to travel just to be evaluated by a physician. It could also potentially save the patient money by reducing the number of outpatient office visits, inpatient admissions, and emergency room visits that they have annually because the advice or care they need could be provided within their home. The patient could be provided with better educational opportunities in a telenursing setting. There educational information given in this setting would be less rushed than it would be if it was provided in a hospital setting. The nurse would have more time to verify that the patient has a good understanding of the information …show more content…
To successfully practice telenursing it is important for the nurse to ensure she if comfortable communicating with patients through different channels such as over the phone and through video chat. The nurse would also need to consider all of the pros and cons of practicing in a telenursing setting as well as consider if she has the appropriate skills to be successful at it. After carefully considering the pros and cons of working in the field of telenursing I do not think it will be a part of my future. While I do think telenursing could benefit many patient’s I think there is a lot of potential for signs and symptoms to be missed when you do not assess a patient in person. Overall I think that the hands on aspect of nursing would be what I would miss most if I were to switch to a telenursing field. Although telenursing is not for everyone I do believe it could be an integral part of routine home health care in populations with chronic diseases if it is used
Holly Thomason
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR361: Information Systems in Healthcare September 2015
Telenursing: Is It In My Future? Telenursing can be described as a way to examine, treat, monitor and assess patients remotely using telephone, video conferencing, and other technology. Using it in a home setting has many benefits to patient’s that are living at home with chronic conditions. In the USA, about 80% of older adults have one chronic condition, and 50% have at least two (CDC 2011). A decent homebased management of patients with chronic diseases would make it easier to detect exacerbations in conditions quickly and in turn reduce hospital readmissions and slow down disease progression …show more content…
In many cases telenursing would most likely be more convenient for patients. It could eliminate time spent waiting in waiting rooms to be seen by a doctor. It also eliminates the need to travel just to be evaluated by a physician. It could also potentially save the patient money by reducing the number of outpatient office visits, inpatient admissions, and emergency room visits that they have annually because the advice or care they need could be provided within their home. The patient could be provided with better educational opportunities in a telenursing setting. There educational information given in this setting would be less rushed than it would be if it was provided in a hospital setting. The nurse would have more time to verify that the patient has a good understanding of the information …show more content…
To successfully practice telenursing it is important for the nurse to ensure she if comfortable communicating with patients through different channels such as over the phone and through video chat. The nurse would also need to consider all of the pros and cons of practicing in a telenursing setting as well as consider if she has the appropriate skills to be successful at it. After carefully considering the pros and cons of working in the field of telenursing I do not think it will be a part of my future. While I do think telenursing could benefit many patient’s I think there is a lot of potential for signs and symptoms to be missed when you do not assess a patient in person. Overall I think that the hands on aspect of nursing would be what I would miss most if I were to switch to a telenursing field. Although telenursing is not for everyone I do believe it could be an integral part of routine home health care in populations with chronic diseases if it is used