The Top Technology Trends Shaping Nursing Education
Nursing educators are under more pressure than ever to prepare students for the realities of working in the field—and while traditional classroom instruction and exams certainly have their place in nursing education, these methods don't provide the hands-on experience nurses need to thrive in their careers.
The good news? There are plenty of emerging tech trends that nursing educators can incorporate into their own lesson planning to better serve students, preparing them for their clinicals and beyond. From case simulation and artificial intelligence to virtual reality and more, the future of nursing education is more reliant on technology than ever before. Read on to learn about the top technology trends for nurse educators.
Telehealth and Telemedicine
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) recommended in 2018 that all nurse practitioners learn about the essentials of telehealth and telemedicine. Once the pandemic hit and people had a harder time seeking medical care in the traditional sense, the need for telehealth and telemedicine became extremely clear.
And patients haven't really gone back. Today, about 38 percent of people report having used telehealth or telemedicine services within the past year—and that trend shows no signs of slowing down. Nurse educators should be hyper-focused on teaching students the basics of telehealth, including best practices for:
- Handling patient privacy and sensitive information.
- Conducting virtual exams (and interpreting a patient's non-verbal cues).
- Using remote monitoring to track vital signs as needed.
Mobile Health (mHealth) and New Apps
Speaking of remote monitoring, the nursing field is also seeing an increase in the use of mobile health devices and wireless technology (mHealth) that can be used to track, monitor, and manage patient health. These devices are not only convenient for medical staff, but save patients from the hassle of traveling to a local hospital or clinic (and the risk of getting sick).
Examples of emerging mHealth technologies include wearable devices (such as blood pressure monitors), health apps, and remote patient monitoring systems. And the use of these devices is only expected to rise, with a 2019 study finding that up to 80 percent of people are willing to wear medical devices as recommended by a doctor.
Nursing educators have an important responsibility to understand the use of this technology and pass that knowledge along to nursing students.
Additionally, there are scores of new apps coming out every year all to help nurses do their jobs. Check out the Nurse’s Drug Handbook app. This app features easy-to-use search and navigation, personalized notetaking, and useful calculators. Watch this video to learn more.
Simulation Technology/Case Simulation
Simulation technology is increasingly being used in nursing education to provide students with hands-on experience and practice. Specifically, this technology can be used to simulate various patient scenarios, allowing students to learn and practice essential nursing skills in a safe and controlled environment. Whenever possible, nursing educators should find useful ways to incorporate available simulation technology into their own classrooms.
One example of simulation technology that's being used is that of unfolding case studies, which encourage students to apply clinical reasoning and thinking skills to a simulated case study that evolves and changes in unpredictable ways. More hands-on simulation technology includes the use of high- and low-fidelity mannequins and partial-task simulators that allow students to practice a hands-on skill repeatedly.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A blog post about tech trends in 2023 wouldn't be complete without a mention of artificial intelligence (AI), which has the potential to transform the healthcare world in a number of ways. In the near future, AI will likely be used to identify high-risk patients, predict patient outcomes, and even assist with creating diagnosis and treatment plans. And research by the McKinsey Global Institute finds that the use of these technologies could save healthcare and pharmaceutical industries $100 billion per year in the United States alone.
By educating nursing students on how AI is being used in healthcare, instructors can help them better understand the benefits (and potential limitations) of this emerging technology.
Escape Room Technology
Educational materials, such as textbooks, are now coming with additional digital resources to supplement and enhance learning. One unique example of this is the digital "escape room" that is offered as a bonus material with Brown's Evidence-Based Nursing: The Research-Practice Connection. This dynamic feature allows nursing students to engage in a virtual escape room that's centered around nursing burnout. This innovative concept allows educators to cover important topics, such as nursing burnout, in an interesting and engaging way—and the escape room format will likely be used in the future to cover other pressing topics in the nursing field.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Both virtual and augmented reality have an increasingly useful place in healthcare education, with AR and VR simulators being used to prepare students for working in the real world while practicing in a controlled environment. Virtual reality, for example, can use computer-generated images to mimic interactions and treatment with a real patient. This provides students an opportunity to practice treating and communicating with people from various walks of life and with different medical conditions, thus improving patient care.
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